Early evaluation of Turkey: what is working and what is not? / News - Basketnews.com

After Turkey completed a 6-game friendly games cycle, BasketNews' Uygar Karaca evaluates Turkish national team strengths and weaknesses.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

Turkey completed the first phase for its upcoming campaign in the EuroBasket 2022, and just before the FIBA Qualifiers, it is a good time to review the main aspects of their structure that came out of these 6 games.

Let's start with the most trivial part of this period: the results.

Obviously, winning or losing in the friendlies would not indicate much about what will come in the actual tournaments. Nevertheless, these are all data, albeit non-robust.

Turkey joined two separate tournaments and finished the 6 friendly games with a 3-3 record. The wins against Ukraine and Poland in Istanbul and Georgia in Athens left a good impression, while losing in some intense games against Slovenia, Poland (in Athens), and Greece showed Turkey some areas to improve.

Pros: The Offensive Fluidity

The games were good proof that we are looking at one of the most talented groups of players in the national team setup. As Ataman repeatedly emphasizes, the expectations are surely high.

In line with those high aspirations, former Efes duo Furkan Korkmaz and Cedi Osman brought their NBA-molded experience and skills and proved to be the key part of the offensive core alongside Shane Larkin.

While Larkin went for a rather slow start, both Korkmaz and Osman were utilized in a much more different role than they are assigned in the Philadelphia 76ers and the Cleveland Cavaliers, respectively.

With a more central place in the offensive setup than usual, this duo initiated more than 56% of the pick and rolls and nearly 1/3 of all catch and shoots during this 10-day stretch.

As a result of this, Korkmaz remained on the court for 27:31 minutes on average, while Cedi played 26:03 mins per game. Even if that looks a little bit extended for preparation games, they did not show much sign of extreme fatigue in those tough battles.

Despite this high volume of usage, both players produced strong outputs in the offense (18.8 points, 2 assists per game, and 1.18 points per possession). Especially with the catch and shoots, the duo was highly impressive.

While Korkmaz hit with better accuracy beyond the 3-point arc (43% vs. 36%), Osman had a slightly better FG rate (52% to 50%).

But perhaps their contribution is most discernable in the transitions. Both stars think and act fast and know very well how to do floor spacing to finish those fast breaks with easy layups. 50% of all transition scoring came from the duo.

But beyond all the stats, both looked hungry for success, eager to provide, and quite serious about their intentions for the upcoming medal hunt. The respect and leadership they inspire among their teammates are not hard to be felt.

Cons: Overreliance on the three musketeers and point guard dilemma

While Cedi and Furkan's outputs were very convincing, it should also be noted that the pick&roll efficiency of both players was just a little below par. This is only normal because both players do not have such a role in their respective NBA teams. In the national team setting, they need to adapt better to the overextended pick&roll ball handler role.

This point also connects us to the issue of the organization from the point guard position, where Turkey might struggle with depth. Thanks to the help of last season's experience of playing in the EuroLeague for Fenerbahce Beko, Seyhmus Hazer is quickly coming of age, playing with a big heart and pumping a lot of energy and rhythm. However, he is still error-prone and may not be the most reliable option at PG in crunch time.

Melih Mahmutoglu is most effective and well deployed as a catch-and-shoot guard, and Onuralp Bitim and Bugrahan Tuncer are not true point guards, either.

Dogus Ozdemiroglu could've been an option as he is coming off a very good season at Darussafaka, but he does not seem to be in Ergin Ataman's plans. He did not play a single minute in Athens and may sit on the bench other than a few cameo appearances.

Larkin only took part in the 3 games in Athens, but Ataman knows what to expect from his star guard when the real action starts. Larkin is acquainted with Efes' offensive system and obviously did not rush for full speed at this point.

But unlike in Efes, Larkin is expected to cover the point guard position more extensively in the national team setup. It will be interesting to observe whether he will be comfortable with this alongside the finisher role.

Pros: Skillful bigs and good floor spacing

After the Omer Yurtseven controversy, the center position became one of the most intriguing areas of the Turkish national team.

While the outlook seemed great on paper with three elite-level centers who offer different skillsets early in the summer, the Miami Heat player decided to stay in Florida to get ready for the upcoming NBA season.

As a result, Alperen Sengun and Sertac Sanli's responsibilities under the rim suddenly soared, and Ercan Osmani was abruptly called up to the national team. All these are going to have some ramifications.

Firstly, let's focus on what is working. Sengun's first season in the Houston Rockets certainly gave him a lot of size, strength, and confidence.

As it was repeatedly shown, he is attacking adamantly to the rim in the post-up situations and can kick it out when help arrives. So he is basically better about the things that he was able to exhibit before leaving overseas.

The output was good for Sengun as he produced 14 points and 5.4 rebounds averages per game. In comparison, those 19 points against Slovenia and 17 against Georgia showed that he could provide complementary support to the perimeter core.

Sengun's 7 assists against Greece once again showed the multi-dimensional aspect of his game.

Despite that sprain in the ankle during the game against Slovenia, Sanli played all games except against Poland, while his figures were not breathtaking. However, he offers something else.

As it was very well pointed out in the previous campaign with Efes and Barcelona, he is a mobile big with a huge sense of floor spacing. Therefore, Ataman knows that Sanli's presence on the court is important for the off-ball configuration, which is well reflected in the offensive efficiency.

Sertac is not alone in his long-range game because Galatasaray's youngster Sadik Emir Kabaca also showed some pick and pop threats and gave some Moerman-esque vibes if we compare his playing role with Ataman's setting in Efes.

It is a pity that Yigitcan Saybir, who had a remarkable preparation campaign, got injured seriously against Greece and would probably miss EuroBasket. As another big, he was also an outside option for 5 out 1 in or 4 out 1 in settings which Ataman likes to deploy.

Cons: Lack of rim runners and weak rim protection

But these centers did not offer a rim-runner role in the pick&rolls, which could be a problem regarding offensive variety and predictability.

This is the area where Omer Yurtseven's absence could be mostly felt because Turkey only played 3% of all their offensive actions by using the roller player in the pick and rolls.

The other place where some problems could arise is rim protection. Yurtseven was known for his offensive contribution better than in defense, but at least his physical presence in the rim zone would deter the opponent's attacks to the paint.

Sertac Sanli wisely positions himself against many powerful bigs to cover the mid-range and floater zone, but after all, he is not the perfect shot-blocker.

Alperen's case in defense makes things more complicated because the opponents may target him, as it was well-exemplified in the previous 6 games. Players like Shermandini posted up on him while he seemed slow to react and struggle with decisions when the opponents pulled Sengun high on the perimeter for pick and roll coverage.

His over-zealous decision to block Ponitka instead of taking a wiser position to protect the rim in the last possession against Poland proved costly and stood as a good lesson to learn.

But Sengun was by no means alone in the defensive end, having difficulty because Turkey's overall efficiency in that department was less than satisfactory.

The opponents created 11.2 possessions where they scored 13.7 points per game in the fast breaks, which indicates that the transition defense stands as one area that needs a big improvement, too.

Initial Verdict

"We are aiming for the ultimate glory," as Ergin Ataman reveals the aspirations of "12 Dev Adam" and it is very well known that if the man who led Anadolu Efes to back-to-back EuroLeague titles speaks of something, he means it.

Naturally, Turkey's flashy roster filled up with established NBA stars like Furkan Korkmaz and Cedi Osman, fledging Alperen Sengun and a virtually unstoppable Shane Larkin creates big expectations for the upcoming EuroBasket 2022.

As the preparation games indicate, there are many good parts and some weaker parts regarding the roster structure and the playing style. Osman-Korkmaz-Larkin trio offers a dazzling perimeter threat to the opponents, while extending point guard responsibilities for Larkin might restrict his overall efficiency.

On the defensive side, rim protection and the transition defense brought some attention as potential areas for a much-needed enhancement.

Despite the games being only friendly in nature, they were intense and competitive at times. The Turkish NT took the task very seriously and fought ferociously in court.

Sometimes, that willingness was overrepresented on the court as the tense moments between Cedi Osman and Goran Dragic, Onuralp Bitim and Luka Doncic, and Leonidas Kaselakis and Alperen Sengun showed that "tough aspect" of the 12 Dev Adam.

But certainly, all the players and Ataman needs to control their emotions better when the real action starts, as Turkey might need its coach and best players on the court in the most important situations.

The disqualifications or ejections from the games, as it was lately exemplified against Greece when Ataman had to watch the game from the stands, might ruin their chances for a historic EuroBasket campaign.

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