Turkish NT 2023

[TurkfromGermany]

atamans best move was the elimination of Mahmutoglu & Tuncer. If things don't work you should not change your correct decisions. Although Bugrahan Tuncer would probably help yesterday.

I dont follow Kenan Sipahi since his Spain advanture. Because of positive posts from important users of this forum i said ok he may is now clearly better but we again saw what the reality is. The problem is turks will forget this again and will think he is decent etc. No this player is like Metecan Birsen a fulltime overrated bum. He has no creativity, no IQ, no scoring, no defense(blablabla EL-level defense) and do you know? under pressure he also cant bring the ball like all the other turkish guards, we saw here no pressure but i know he was never able to bring the ball under pressure.

Man Onuralp Bitim thinks he is MJ but reality is very very dark. The best thing for turkish bb would be if a foreign EL-team would sign him. Abroad he would work much more. He must work dramatically on fundamentals and decision making, otherwise he is total useless for NT.

On another day we could win against this Croatia but this cant be our goal, the turkish goal must be much bigger. The key problem is always the same, without EL you have no chance. EUROLEAGUE, EUROLEAGUE, and again EUROLEAGUE. A PG or a player like Bogdan Bogdanovic, this is the key.

[c-myers]

Its stem from the desperation to expect still a contribution from Kenan. Shoot problem very obvious since I am not touch on this issue but he cannot even handle the ball, what I mean is a pg who is not comfortable with ball! Can't drive at all.. The most funny thing he can play some post up on paper but never utilize it even against midgets. Some romantics still faith in him but truth is Kenan is trash. Even Calathes way better version of Kenan does not pay off to win at this stage.

I am really sad for Sehmus. Even though he is extremely useful and can contribute many aspects of the game since lack of primary ball handler and decent pg people blaming him along with trash backcourt players.

We have to hope new faces are going to be appeared from new generation. We have some candidates like Melih Tunca and Derin Saran but too early to talk these kids.

Lastly Ataman was extremely bad at players decisions. Sadık should have taken more time in this team while we suffer from shooting as well as Okben was in a good shape and motivated. Ataman did not use him either. He might defend the Hezonja better and contribute on offence but Ataman is notorious with limited rotation and obssessed with some palyers did it over the past eurobasket too.

[R1ou]

Even though I think it'd still be hard for Turkey to make it to the Olympics, having a second summer off is definitely below the expectations of your team. And I'm saying that coz I think all the Turkish NT versions post 2015 were probably worse than most people here thought and this is probably the first time since then that I actually rated Turkey and the potential of this team.

It also ain't fun when Turkey isn't around and you don't got to argue with Toruko lol.

[slice me nice]

If we played 10 games against the Croatian team, I'm sure we would win 8 of them under the same circumstances. Sengun's early foul trouble and the extra shots made by the Croatians were unlikely factors. Ataman's control of the game was also quite weak. Not evaluating a proper PF like Kabaca is one of the most important issues to criticize in this tournament. The outcome is truly disappointing. Not being able to participate in major tournaments for 2 years is a disaster considering the magnitude of Turkish basketball.

Regardless of what anyone says right now, Adem Bona is the most crucial player who needs to complete his development for the sake of Turkish basketball. I believe he will make a significant difference for the national team once he's ready. While our big-man rotation has offensive potential, we struggle with rim protection. Considering that Bona could also cover perimeter defensive weaknesses, he could completely change the national team's defensive strategy. These matters, of course, can be discussed extensively.

It's really hard to understand why no official has made any positive or negative statements after the loss to Croatia. I don't understand what's behind this silence and acceptance. Turkoglu's administration is clearly witnessing the most unsuccessful period for the national team. Who will be held accountable for these consecutive failures? Turkoglu, who takes credit for club teams' successes, won't take responsibility for the national team's failure? The fact that the national team hasn't won a single target game in years and the players' mental fragility require serious psychological analysis and support. The necessary improvements in the mental aspect, as important as the technical aspect in high-level basketball, should be discussed collectively. We are the most unsuccessful and disappointing team of the past 10 years.

[tonia]

What is the real story with Larkin and Wilbekin? Weren't they both injured or just wanted to rest? Why are they going to get fined for non participation to the national team?

[janketa]

What is the real story with Larkin and Wilbekin? Weren't they both injured or just wanted to rest? Why are they going to get fined for non participation to the national team?

Willbekin made us a favor because with him our tour would finish in semi and Sweden.

Larkin is injured and with him Croatia wouldn't have a chance to even compete on same level with us. They had very solid foreigner and we didn't have Larkin, end of story.

[okanial]

Im finally less upset.

I don’t think the issue was gameplan. Our defense wasn’t terrible but they hit tough shots and we actually found open 3s and couldn’t hit any. Both Hazer and Sipahi hit harder shots in the other games but missed all in this one.

I think our biggest problem is mentality. Most of these players are scrubs in their teams and they really crumble under the pressure. They cant make the shots they would normally make when there is any pressure. It is the same with Osman and now with the others.

one good thing we can get is Alperen didn’t get this problem. So hopefully when we have better support around him we can win some games. But without a mentality change I dont think we can defeat any strong opponent.

this team didnt need a better coach or a neutralized player. It needed a therapist

[janketa]

Im finally less upset.

this team didnt need a better coach or a neutralized player. It needed a therapist

This team needs better shooters that's all

Ask yourself why the best shooters make their shoots under pressure? They don't use therapist, they shoot 1000s every day they work hard and they are ready when time comes

For instance, there are clips on youtube of Curry's or Bogdanovic's individual trainings, that's hard work dude

[Toruko]

Regardless of what anyone says right now, Adem Bona is the most crucial player who needs to complete his development for the sake of Turkish basketball. I believe he will make a significant difference for the national team once he's ready. While our big-man rotation has offensive potential, we struggle with rim protection. Considering that Bona could also cover perimeter defensive weaknesses, he could completely change the national team's defensive strategy. These matters, of course, can be discussed extensively.

The need of Bona for this team was obvious. The first couple games you just saw praises about the twin towers OFY and Sengun but the truth is OFY defended horribly. I am fairly disappointed of him and his development, especially on the defensive end. Still a good guy for the bench but to overcome our perimeter weaknesses we need Bona to protect the rim and fill the holes.

The only good thing about this tournament was to see Sengun being able to play 4. The biggest mistake in the last game was to play Hazer beside Sipahi. No matter how we change the perimeter its always a bad trade off. Tuncer and Mahmutoglu blow up the defense and Sipahi and Hazer cant shoot.

I still think we would win 8 of 10 regular games against this Croatian team.

[Dreamcatcher]

Larkin and Wilbekin were fined by Turkish federation and additionaly will miss 5 local games? That's funny and shame.

[R1ou]

Is it true they've had their citizenships revoked ?

[Toruko]

Is it true they've had their citizenships revoked ?

No, they just lost their status being a Turkish player.

[slice me nice]

The need of Bona for this team was obvious. The first couple games you just saw praises about the twin towers OFY and Sengun but the truth is OFY defended horribly. I am fairly disappointed of him and his development, especially on the defensive end. Still a good guy for the bench but to overcome our perimeter weaknesses we need Bona to protect the rim and fill the holes.

The only good thing about this tournament was to see Sengun being able to play 4. The biggest mistake in the last game was to play Hazer beside Sipahi. No matter how we change the perimeter its always a bad trade off. Tuncer and Mahmutoglu blow up the defense and Sipahi and Hazer cant shoot.

I still think we would win 8 of 10 regular games against this Croatian team.

Sengun plays like a sieve in defense, much like Yurtseven. His defensive mistakes are often overlooked by many due to his more spectacular performance on the offensive end. Especially during the times he played as a PF (which was almost throughout the entire tournament), he struggled against mobile players, and he was clearly outclassed by Saric in the final game. It wouldn't be accurate to focus on Sengun's positive aspects and make real projections based on this tournament alone, except for the final game, as we didn't play against serious opponents. In the final game, his performance fell short in the only significant test of the tournament.

I had mentioned that we need to see the results of Ataman's Twin Towers tendency against strong opponents. As you said, people praised the Sengun-Yurtseven duo excessively due to their dominance against weak opponents. However, against weak opponents, even a twin towers or even a triple-towers setup would have been successful. The real skill lies in being able to play effectively against evenly matched opponents with the right system, and we couldn't achieve that. I don't believe Sengun can play at maximum efficiency in a position other than C. While he can be effective on offense at some degree, his offensive potential wouldn't be at maximum level due to the lack of a consistent outside shot, and his continuous struggle to defend a wider area on defense results in negative contributions. Therefore, I am against Sengun playing as a full-time PF in the long run. This is why I was in favor of giving Kabaca more responsibilities in this tournament. They could have formed a good duo. Ataman seemed influenced by Yurtseven's NBA label and thus couldn't make a bold decision.

Regardless of everything, it's a great disappointment that Ataman and the federation didn't feel the need to make a statement to the basketball public. The stakeholders of basketball seem to have internalized the failure to such an extent that they can't find anything to comment on the routine disappointments. It's bad, really bad. They created a nonsensical artificial agenda about naturalized players and are debating the national team spirit through two useless Americans who have no real connection to the country.

[tonia]

No, they just lost their status being a Turkish player.

I guess this means that they are no longer considered as naturalized Turkish players, so under these circumstances they can't join the Turkish national team, right?

[Toruko]

I guess this means that they are no longer considered as naturalized Turkish players, so under these circumstances they can't join the Turkish national team, right?

The Turkish citizenship isnt revoked, they just lost their status but they were punished for 5 games. After those 5 games they will be available again. If they play is another question.