By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Here is what Turkey head coach Ufuk Sarica said during the opening statement during the post-game press conference:
“We had prepared better. We didn’t play as in the preparation period. Our game looked a bit different. We got excited at times and looked different than we hoped for. There were times when we controlled the game. We had 15 steals which is an important stat for us. Then again, that didn’t really help us in the end. Semih and Sinan are the only experienced players in this team. The others are inexperienced at this level. We wanted to start strong but it’s how you finish, not how you begin. I would also like to point out that the Italian referee (Manuel Mazzoni) called some ridiculous fouls. I don’t understand 40 free throws in that kind of level. The previous game (Serbia – Latvia) was tougher but didn’t have as many free throws.”
On the performance of players like Erkan Veyseloglu or Furkan Korkmaz, Sarica said:
“I expect all my players to play well. Melih had a good preparation period but wasn’t very good tonight. We want to have help from every player. Every game is a different story. Especially the games against Latvia and Belgium are going to be difficult. Again, it’s how you finish, not how you start the tournament.”
On the fan presence:
“Sometimes we get them excited and we hope to make us excited when we are down. They did that tonight. We hope to have more and more fans as the tournament progresses.”
Photo: FIBA.Europe