Turkish BBALL - on the way up?

[edan]

It seems that good news keep coming for Turkish basketball and sport in general, a fact that's being demonatrated in three things:
1) The recent success of Turkish NT in WC's...Personally I was very surprised at their performance - reaching the seventh place despite missing its two biggest NBA stars - and playing superbly throughout the championship's first round.
2) There is a great improvement in the grasping of Turkey as a good place to have training camps etc'...Turkey is becoming more and more a european country in its appeal and infra structure (as also witnessed in motoracing sports which take place in Turkey - the marvelous F1 compound - which gives turkey a great boost in sporting investments). This is opposite to what one could have expected with Taep Erdogan's in power...Ata Turk's vision is coming true in what has to do with sports.
3) Level of foreign players coming over to Turkey is very good. Players like Marque Perry, Damien Kinloch, Will Solomon, Drew Nicholas, Marcus Slaughter and Chris Booker (the return of Tofas) will make this league pretty attractive, as it was in the late 90's.
will Turkish teams reach higher peaks during this season's european competitions?

[muse]

will Turkish teams reach higher peaks during this season's european competitions?
Well, I heard the president of the team Efes Pilsen saying that their aim now is to win the Euroleague in 2-3 years' time and that they plan to make the necessary investment to achieve this goal. So things are looking bright for us, at least for me;)


This is opposite to what one could have expected with Taep Erdogan's in power Actually, the preparations of these projects (Istanbul Park circuit etc.) were put in motion before he was elected, so one might say he got lucky. It was inevitable in a sense.

BTW, so sorry to be nitpicking, but..:o

reaching the seventh place I'm sure you meant sixth:D

[edan]

right :) , but who gives a damn?!

[edan]

Well, Efes Pilsen's president will probably have to wait another season to win the european crown...they are unlikely to do that with a pg like Horace Jenkins, though he's a player with good skills, especially on the offensive end who has a rare first step you'll most likely enjoy...but he's getting mad in tough games...they started off well with nicholas, just that following it up with Jenkins and Haislip was poor for what he aims.

[Levenspiel]

It seems that good news keep coming for Turkish basketball and sport in general, a fact that's being demonatrated in three things:
1) The recent success of Turkish NT in WC's...Personally I was very surprised at their performance - reaching the seventh place despite missing its two biggest NBA stars - and playing superbly throughout the championship's first round.

This was a great result for us, yes. But the most important and promising thing was the team spirit they showed this time. It was our biggest problem, and longing for years. I hope we can maintain this atmosphere.



2) There is a great improvement in the grasping of Turkey as a good place to have training camps etc'...Turkey is becoming more and more a european country in its appeal and infra structure (as also witnessed in motoracing sports which take place in Turkey - the marvelous F1 compound - which gives turkey a great boost in sporting investments). This is opposite to what one could have expected with Taep Erdogan's in power...Ata Turk's vision is coming true in what has to do with sports.

In fact, Erdogan surprised everyone, including his own voters. In his first speech after the election victory, he said "our main target is to join the EU!". This was unexpected from a man who has religious backgounds like himself. Anyway, I think his government period has been very successful so far. When you improve economically, everything, including the sports, gets a boost usually.



3) Level of foreign players coming over to Turkey is very good. Players like Marque Perry, Damien Kinloch, Will Solomon, Drew Nicholas, Marcus Slaughter and Chris Booker (the return of Tofas) will make this league pretty attractive, as it was in the late 90's.
will Turkish teams reach higher peaks during this season's european competitions?

If Efes's president said they would aim the title in next 2-3 years, I tend to believe him. Because they can invest bigger sums if they think it will return them economically. Anadolu Group (owners of Efes Pilsen) is one of the richest companies in Turkey.