ANKARA (2010 FIBA World Championship) – Turkey saw off Russia 65-56 in front of more than 10,000 fans at Ankara Arena to stay undefeated in Group C of the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

Both teams had the hot hand early as the game looked more like a three-point shootout. The score was tied at nine with all points coming from behind the arc.

Both teams eventually cooled off, particularly David Blatt’s men who made only three of 16 attempts from two-point range in the first half and didn’t find their range until late in the game with Turkey holding a double-digit lead.

Andrey Vorontsevich hit a tough shot in the lane to put Russia up 14-11 but the hosts got in front by accounting for the last five of the first quarter.

Ender Arslan connected twice from downtown as Turkey extended their advantage to 25-16.

Sinan Guler buried a three-pointer from the corner as Bogdan Tanjevic’s men took a 33-22 lead at the break.

The Russians went on a 6-0 spurt – capped off by Sasha Kaun’s thunderous dunk – to get within 33-28 early in the third quarter.

The Turks though pulled away once more with Omer Asik and Hidayet Turkoglu knocking down timely baskets.

Semih Erden then flipped up a shot with his back to the basket and completed a three-point play as the hosts went into the final frame with a 48-37 advantage.

Russia’s struggles were best illustrated by Sergey Monya blowing a straightforward looking dunk and Sergey Bykov missing a lay-up from point blank range.

Monya made up for his miss by hitting a three-pointer and Vitaliy Fridzon added one of his own to cut the deficit to 57-49, before Turkoglu re-established a double-digit lead for his team to put the game beyond reach.

Quotes:

Bogdan Tanjevic (Turkey head coach): “This game was similar to the one against the Ivory Coast. We played this game like a surgeon: operating slowly and carefully. I think we spread our energy well throughout the game and got a good result.”

Hedo Turkoglu (Turkey forward): “Our target was set from the beginning: take it game game by game. We worked hard. Coach said that every ball, every score and every second is important. We played hard until the last second. I know I made a couple of stupid mistakes all around. It was a good game for us and I am happy to win. Tomorrow we are going to relax but also keep on training. The day after (Tuesday) we will be competing in order to top the group. All in all, I am happy with tonight’s game.”

David Blatt (Russia head coach): “This was a hard-fought game and I think from our perspective we had a bad second quarter and could not come back. My guys played hard and played good defense but it’s hard against the Turkish team and their crowd. We faced a really strong Turkish team and we made bad decisions at the key points of the game.”

Sasha Kaun (Russia centre): “We played hard, good and smart but our second quarter was bad and it was hard to come back from that. We put pressure on ourselves, we tried to come back but couldn’t do it. We hope to come back strong in the next game.”


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New improved ‘Elephants’ relish long awaited return to the big stage

1986 was the last time that Ivory Coast took part in World Basketball’s biggest event and after being the surprise package of last year’s FIBA Africa Championship, the Elephants will once again be looking to play on their status as massive underdogs.

Last time Ivory Coast made it to the FIBA World Championship, some of the current players were not even born while others were just babies. It was in 1986 in Spain and the competition was somewhat painful for the 1985 FIBA Africa champions. They had to face tough opposition to say the least, with powerhouses like reigning European champions USSR and the 1983 European Championship winners Italy, plus solid international squads like Germany, China and Puerto Rico. A proud Ivory Coast lost all five games but certainly gained a lot of experience in the process and also the hunger for another trip to the Worlds

Last summer at the FIBA Africa Championship, reaching that goal was nothing more than just a dream after the first two rounds of the competition. An inexperienced Ivory Coast, that had been put through a number of problems preparing themselves for the tournament, faced a huge challenge in the quarter-finals against Senegal, a five-time FIBA Africa Championship winner and a bursting with top-notch players from the best leagues in Europe and the NBA.

However Randoald Dessarzin’s Elephants went past Senegal (84-78) before proving their quarter-final victory has been no fluke, overcoming Cameroon in the semi-finals (82-72). Unfortunately for their fans and many neutrals, Ivory Coast came up just short against an invincible Angola en route to a sixth straight FIBA Africa Championship coronation.

While the Ivory Coast players deserve much credit for their recent improvement, so does the management and the federation. Indeed, in order to strengthen their squad, Coach Dessarzin and the Ivorian Federation quickly considered suggesting some experimented players to make their debuts for the team.

The best example of that strategy was Alain Digbeu. Although he was born in France, the French guard (1.95m, 34) has Ivorian origins and would have added heaps of professionalism and quality to the team. Alain participated in three European Championships with France (1999, 2001 and 2003) and wore prestigious jerseys during his brilliant career (FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, for instance). But Digbeu, like other European pros (Hervé Touré and Jean-Marc Kraidy) finally did not make the team, as coach Dessarzin thought it was a good idea to reward those who offered their heart and body for the nation last year at the FIBA Africa Championship.
Among them, Pape-Philippe Amagou and his sidekick from the French club of Roanne Souleyman Diabaté, who combine to form a more than decent back-court at the world stage. Then, Dessarzin has to work on his frontline, which has been a concern at the Africa Championship, in spite of center Mohamed Koné’s enormous talent.

Like in 1986, the ‘Elephants’ will again meet China and Puerto Rico, as well as Russia - part of USSR at the time. The game against China on Day 2 will certainly be a key moment for the African silver medallists, while the most emotional moment will certainly come on the first day when Turkey will open ‘their’ World Championship against them.