Can Erol: Outcomes of Patience: Silver Medal and Hopes for the Future

That was a very busy and annoying Sunday because of the referendum and the final day of World Basket 2010. Turkey had played a great tournament by surpassing all of its rivals until the final game. The rival, United States, was also unbeaten up to that date. However, Turkey had had a very challenging semi-final game against Serbia and the aggregate condition level of the team was quite down on Sunday.

The final started with the ?bombing? of Kevin Durant, who was later selected the MVP of the tournament. He had scored 7 times behind the 3 point line and scored 28 points at the end of the game. The result was 81-64 but it was the most glorious night of Turkish Basketball after the Korac Cup final in 1996.

What has brought us to this point? The answer is absolutely patience. Tanjevic has been criticized regularly for 6 years but in the end he left us a powerful team in which there are several young players such as Ömer Aşık, Ersan İlyasova and Semih Erden who will all play in NBA in the following season.

Now, it?s time to sustain this success. We have a very powerful generation and we have to be careful from now on to develop the current squad. We have lack of some systematical issues especially in the attacking side of the game. Now, we have European Championship and Olympic games in the schedule, and it?s time to improve ourselves. Maybe, it will be wise to continue with Tanjevic at least for one year.

and a roundup:

Turkey Unites Over Basketball, If Not a Constitution – TIME

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and captain of the National Basketball Team Hidayet Turkoglu laugh during a meeting in Ankara September 13, 2010. Turkey won the silver medal at the FIBA Basketball World Championship on Sunday.? Read more » REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Turkey Unites Over Basketball, If Not a Constitution
TIME
By Charles McDermid / Istanbul Monday, Sep. 13, 2010 Turkish fans react as they watch the World Championship basketball final match Turkey vs USA,

Behind Durant, motivated US proves doubters wrong
NBA.com
ISTANBUL — They did what no American team had done since 1994. And they did it when there were so many reasons they couldn’t. They were too small and too

Elveda from Istanbul
NBA.com (blog)
ISTANBUL ? If you were just looking for a little competitive basketball to tide you over until the NBA and European seasons begin, the 2010 FIBA World

Gigantic prizes for Turkey’s ’12 Giant Men’