Great Britain was leading 10-8 in the 5th minute of the match. Great Britain used the bottom of the basket well against the national team, which repeatedly made mistakes in offense and increased the lead to 13 points (23-10) in the 8th minute with Lautier-Ogunleye’s basket. Using the pot gold well with Metecan Birsen in the remaining section, the National Team reduced the lead to 7 points at the end of the 1st period: 16-23.
In the second period of the match, the National Team reduced the tempo against its opponent, which was composed of athletic players, and reduced turnovers with more controlled attacks. Turning the ball well and catching the right shot, the national team took the lead 25-23 in the 13th minute with Buğrahan’s three-pointer. The national team, which started to struggle against Great Britain’s area defense and turned to hasty shots again, could not prevent Olaseni’s basket in the 16th minute and fell back 32-27. Turkey, which recovered with Larkin’s effective offensive and defensive play, caught a 35-35 draw in the 19th minute with Melih’s basket. The first half of the match ended in a 37-37 draw.
Scoring 5 points from foul shots, the national team had an advantage 42-37 in the 22nd minute. The National Team, which did not give its opponent an easy scoring chance with its field defense, was well organized especially with Buğrahan and increased the lead to 14 points (60-46) in the 27th minute with Melih’s basket. Having trouble concentrating in the last episode, where Muhsin was on the sidelines with five fouls and Furkan got his fourth foul, the national team was ahead 60-54 in the third period, although it could not prevent its opponent’s points.
Continuing to dominate with Larkin in the last period, the National Team defeated its opponent 84-67.
“WE WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS”
Answering the questions of members of the press after the match, Turkish Basketball Federation President Hidayet Türkoğlu stated that the importance of the Great Britain match increased after the defeat against Belarus, and said, “We all have a purpose. We always want to participate in the world and European championships. We may have started the match a bit excited, but in the end, everyone stepped in. and we got a nice win especially with our good game in the second half.” said.
Congratulating the technical team and the players for their struggle, Türkoğlu said, “Everyone did their best, I hope we will continue like this. We need to catch up with both men and women in terms of the national team. I hope we get a good win in February and carry the national team wherever we want.” used the expressions.
“HOW MUCH THANK YOU ARE TO THE FANS”
Mentioning that the fans also gave great support to the national team, Türkoğlu said, “We know that they support our national team both in the hall and in front of their televisions. We cannot thank them enough. Playing to the full stands after a long break made both us and our athletes happy. We’ve always felt it.” he said.
“EVERYONE IS GOING TO THE FIELD AND FIGHTING WITH GOOD FAITH”
Emphasizing that the players tried to play in good faith during the difficult process, Türkoğlu said:
“We are faced with such a process that we are trying to understand our athletes. Due to the schedule, we cannot train a full team in 5 days from time to time. Unfortunately, the conflict between the Europa League and FIBA is making European basketball worse day by day. We are people who believe that this conflict should be concluded. Everyone He kept the national team jersey separate and wanted to wear it. In the 5-day period, we sometimes expect a lot from friends who have been in the national team for the first time in their lives. Unfortunately, this is not something we have. They are also aware of this. Everyone goes out on the field and fights with good intentions.”
Pointing out that they had to play some players in positions they did not expect from time to time due to the tight schedule, Türkoğlu said, “We can expect a lot from the players in this process. The fact that Larkin and Buğrahan are in the same team occasionally helped with good assists. Metecan also performed well. Our tall guys fought well. “Some of them took five fouls, but everybody tried to do something, from the one who took a little time to the one who took a lot of time. Nobody has any excuses anymore, they shouldn’t be. When they come here, they realize that the fight has to be at the highest level.” he said.
