U18 Men: Turkey Look Strong In Warm-Up EventTurkey warmed up for the U18 European Championship For Men with an impressive showing at the World Douai Tournament last week.
The tournament featured 5 teams that will play at the European Championships in Serbia & Montenegro in July, as well as a strong USA outfit.
The USA were bolstered with the participation of Rudy Gay (2.06m, forward), a sophomore in UConn next season, Malik Hairston (1.98m, shooting forward), a freshman in Oregon in 2004, Kevin Durant (2.05m, forward), a 17-year-old NBA prospect and the tournament's MVP, North Carolina-bound Tywon Lawson (1.82m, guard).
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| Turkey's Cenk Akyol | ||||
Turkey came close to winning gold at the 2004 U18 European Championship, but eventually lost in the final to the Sergio Rodriguez-led Spanish side. This year, Turkey can no longer look to leader Hakan Demirel, who will join the U20 team, but in Cenk Akyol, they have uncovered a new young star.
Akyol, a 197 cm guard, was elected to the All-Tournament team in Douai. He has already cut his teeth at the senior level, playing 5 Eurobasket qualification games for Turkey in 2004, and will be a huge part of his side's quest for U18 gold in Serbia & Montenegro.
Turkey were without their other young prospect, Ersan Ilyasova, who is in the USA after declaring for the NBA draft. He is expected to be back for the U18 European Championship.
France took the bronze, defeating Lithuania 63-54 behind 13 points from Aldo Curti.
Lithuanian assistant coach Egidijus Zenevicius was dissapointed with his side's loss.
"We worked only one week together before this tournament. We waited for three guys to come back from the States. It was our first tournament with the whole group and our first steps as far as tactic is concerned. We still have some time to work before the European Championship in Serbia," he said.
One bright spot for the Lithuanians was the performance of center Karolis Petrukonis, who joined Akyol as an All-Tournament team selection.
French coach Richard Billant was encouraged by his team's performance, other than their 72-65 semi-final loss to Turkey.
"We haven't played our game against Turkey. It is true that some of my players haven't always come up to my expectations in that particular game. The game was tough in the first half and we were 16 points behind at the half. The margin was too big to come back. Nevertheless, we beat the Turks in the second half which was more encouraging. Then, as you can imagine, playing a game for third place is mentally difficult... It's like in the European Championship, you have to be mentally prepared to play such a game and today it was positive indeed," commented Billant.
Slovenia and Croatia also participated and will both be present in Serbia & Montenegro for the U18 European Championship. Croatia finished in 5th position and Slovenia 6th. Croatia's Ivan Siriscevic was the tournament's leading scorer.
For all the competition statistics, rosters and standings, visit www.tournoi-douai.com.
