Who will advance to the quarterfinals: Turkey or France?
This will be the opener of the Eurobasket quarterfinals and it is supposed to be a derby. Each team has different offensive and defensive weapons and it depends a lot on the inspiration of the players and coaches of both squads. Ataman has excellent support from the Turkish fanbase of Berlin. If the Turks come in huge numbers they could motivate their players and boost their energy.
At the same time, France is a solid team and one of the candidates for the title. With so many NBA and Euroleague stars on the roster, Vincent Collet’s team is the clear favourite of the game. Especially if Shane Larkin won’t play because of his injured finger. Even with the American guard in the Turkish lineup, France has better quality and experience.
The Turkish national squad is a very young one, with half of the roster under 25 years old. They are the new generation of Turkish basketball and the direct result of giving more minutes to the home-grown players in the domestic league. The good thing is they have a lot of energy, ambition and determination to fight for every possession. On the other side, because of their age, they have less experience and chemistry than France as a team.
After the loss against Slovenia, when the referees were totally against France, I think that “Les Bleus” will be extra motivated to advance to the quarterfinals where they will probably meet another title contender: Serbia.
Image credit: FIBA Eurobasket
The article was written by Gratian Cormos, a Romanian journalist, book writer, life coach and mentor currently living in Barcelona, Spain.
If you are interested in collaborating with his website brainbasketball.net, in order to publish articles, interviews or other features related to basketball, contact Gratian Cormos by Whatsapp or Telegram at this Spanish number: +34 612414486.
