twentythree

Why would Memphis do that? They already have Hakim Warrick, Rudy Gay and Stromile Swift who are athletic 6-9 forwards. Think about it that way, are we going to trade Gay, Swift and a first round pick (between 15-20) for our only superstar, JJ? No. Gasol has more value. Lakers can give Odom, Mihm (expiring contract), Turiaf and a 1st rounder for example. Still Bynum, Gasol, Kwame and Vlad on the frontcourt. Makes sense for both.

well i love this forum! Yesterday we were talking about 40-45 wins, today we are talking about worse. If Salim makes his shots tomorrow and we win, we'll go back to playoff talk. Anyway, my opinion is he could be an effective role player on any team. Since we have good penetrators and they are becoming good passers, Salim's role should be easy on this team. However, even we have two real point guards on the roster, it is like a sickness for us to see any player as a point guard. Remember the French guy, most of you learned his name after starting to play as a triple-double player. Do you remember what was he doing in our team? Yes, he was trying to play pg -the only position he can't play actually. Now we see Salim, tomorrow we'll see Cenk. None of them are point guards. Now we are doing it with Salim. His value is great for teams like Spurs -as a role player of course. So why we can't make him play that way? Of course we don't have a Duncan, but we have Smoove, Marv, JJ and Chill. They can penetrate and pass. But because of that sickness we force Salim to play pg. Like we forced Diaw. Maybe if we release him or trade him for two packs of peanuts, we'll understand his value as a role player. Like Tony Delk...

Quote: That being said, who was the last team to contend with a white center? Spurs with Nesterovic. It's not that far. But, the last time I checked our roster I realized that we don't have something close to Duncan. Anyway, it counts.

Well, I was very busy last week, I couldn't write about the other games. Croatia game wasn't as hard as we expected. Turkey won 91-72. Five players scored in double figures and Cenk was the topscorer of the game with Ersan Ilyasova (18 pts.) He did a perfect job on defense, but it is not the same case in the offense. Since it was a blow-out win, he forced too much threes. He got his most points in the second half, team was already winning by 10-15. But the defence, it was really great. He locked up his opponent and played really hard. Stat sheet 31 mins., 18 pts, 6/13 FG, 4/10 3ptFG, 2/2 FT, 3 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 1 to. After Croatia game, Turkey guaranteed for semi-finals. Last game against Greece was a formality game. Two key starters didn't play for Turkey and Cenk was one of them. Ersan Ilyasova shined like he did during all the tournament, he scoerd 27 points and 7 rebounds. Greece won 80-78. At semi-finals, Turkey played against Slovenia. Cenk Akyol was the hero of the game, scoring 28 points and red hot from the 3 pt line. As I mentioned zillions of times, Cenk is a good shooter who needs to work on his shot selection. So, this game was a good one. He scored when the team needed. Well done, Cenk Stat sheet: 26 mins., 28 pts., 10/15 FG, 5/7 3pt FG, 3/4 FT, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 3 to, 3 pf. Final Game is not a game we want to talk about. Turkish team lost against Serbia & Montenegro. Cenk played hard, but his opponent Milenko Tepic was heroic at the 4th quarter. Team was at a pressure, because the same squad lost 3 more finals in juniors & cadets. This is the 4th time of Cenk losing in Europe Finals. It is a mental thing and coach couldn't find a solution to this. Kids were good, anyway. Free throws were key stats which Turkey shoot just 9/20. Stat sheet: 39 mins., 13 pts, 3/11 FG, 2/7 FG, 5/8 FT, 4 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl, 3 pf. Congrats to Serbia also. I liked Tepic and Pekovic. Tepic is great he's a carbon copy of Cenk, and Pekovic is a low-post warrior. All-Tournament Team MVP - Ersan Ilyasova (Milwaukee Bucks, Turkey) Cenk Akyol (Efes Pilsen, Turkey) Emir Preldzic (KK Geoplin Slovan, Slovenia) Nikoa Pekovic (Partizan, Serbia & Montenegro) Luca Vitali (Premiata Montegranaro , Italy) Well, I found a 6 minute YouTube video from Russia game. I took out must-see highlights about Cenk. Turkey, White Jerseys. # 7: Cenk Akyol # 8: Ersan Ilyasova 00.40 - Cenk scores from NBA range 3. 00.57 - Cenk plays one on one and scores. 01.23 - Cenk steals the ball, dribbles coast to coast, reverses but misses. 02.40 - Ersan Ilyasova blocks, Cenk gets the rebound, dribbles coast to coast and this time makes an assist. 03.15 - Cenk gets the pass, gets the contact and scores. 04.20 - Cenk gets the pass, scores from NBA range 3 when it matters. 05.55 - Bonus Track! Hakan Demirel with a great crossover before an assist.

Yeah, the score is right. Yesterday Turkey beat Italy 75-53. So far, we are the best defensive team in this tournament allowing just 55,25 points a game. A special note: Italy's best player, future first rounder Marco Belinelli didn't play. Italy game was a perfect defensive effort. Cenk was also great at defense, playing aggresively. He stole 4 balls and forced as much as it. At the beginning, Italy was leading 10-2. However, center Ömer Asik's ultra defensive effort gave Turkey a boost, and team regrouped. Ömer has the longest arms and fingers I've ever seen. If Cheikh Samb gets drafted, this guy has to be drafted someday. A quick stat: Turkey outrebounded Italy 51-25. Cenk, again, forced too much threes. When he drives inside, he is really effective with his jump shot. But he prefers to shoot from long range. I think he tries to imitate Ersan Ilyasova, who generally shoots with a hand on his face. No way, he is totally a different player. Anyway, Cenk was the second leading scorer of the team with 14 points. Today's game is much harder than yesterday's. Turkey against Croatia. We'll see how Cenk will do. Stat sheet: 26 min, 14 pts, 5/11 FG, 3/7 3pt FG, 4 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl, 3 to, 2 pf. I'll also try to write about Croatia game.

Quote: Who would you compare him with that is or has been in the NBA? Well, it is hard to make a comparison to a kid whose game is developing... But I can say Cenk is a Marquis Daniels with less athleticisim and better 3 point shot. Good ball-handler, pressure defender, versatile, leadership skills etc. Quote: Do you guys think this guy will seriously come over in the next 2-3 years? He said he won't go to NBA at least for two years.

A game that Turkey wasn't upset because of the loss. Finished second in the group, Turkey had the advantage of qualifying to a better group in quarter finals. The team didn't want to be in the same group with Serbia and Lithuania, so the loss resulted in a good way. Cenk wasn't so good. I don't understand why, but he has a problem with coach. Coach mostly shouts to Cenk, which makes him upset. Again he forced too much shots, we wait Cenk to be more aggressive with the ball, penetrate more. He was good at zone defense that Turkey played, causing some steals. It was a tough, physical game that Cenk didn't want to go inside. 6 rebounds came with small effort. He didn't take so much contact. Stat Sheet: 32 mins, 12 pts, 4/11 FG, 2/6 3ptFG, 2/2 FT, 6 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 2 to, 3 pf. Ersan Ilyasova was really good, showed some heroic performances at 4th quarter. I think he and Cenk will be better at wuarter finals. Especially we wait a lot from Cenk.

It was a tough game for Turkey and Cenk. First; Turkey didn't need Cenk so much because Bucks' player Ersan Ilyasova and prospect center Oguz Savas were almost perfect. Second; Cenk had some problems with ultra-athletic French defenders. Because they are so big and strong, Cenk decided to force mid-range shots. As I said before, when he tries too much, that game must be finished for Cenk. Third; coach was angry to him. Because of coach, Cenk was demotivated. He got a technical, and then he got foul problems. He was good at defense, created some steals for team. Just say it was a bad game for Cenk. Stat sheet: 25 mins, 3/10 FG, 1/4 3pt. FG, 1/2 FT, 8 pts, 5 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 to. Turkey has guaranteed to qualify. Hope he'll be less stressed at tomorrow's Russia game and show us some more. I'll try to keep you updated.

Well, I won't trust a boxscore that writes C for Cedric Bozeman. No way! Well, also I don't want to comment about this: Biggest Lead Hawks 0, JAZZ 30 Anthony Grundy is always producing somthing in his limited playing time. It may be a garbage time but he's always efficient. I didn't see him playing so much but I'm curious about Grundy. Happy to see Corey Violette in summer leagues. Last year he was at Fenerbahce Istanbul. Good guy, an athletic, inside-outside threat PF. Anyway, he won't make NBA.

Quote: Wow, 20pts. in only 22 minutes. Not bad. I thought he was regarded as a PG? No, definately not. He is a good leader who can manage his teammates, he is a guy who can drive the team in halfcourt, he is a shooting guard with good ballhandling skills, but he is not a point guard. Turkey has great point guards like Kerem Tunceri (Real Madrid), Ender Aslan (Efes Pilsen), Hakan Demirel (Fenerbahce), Engin Atsur (North Carolina State). We don't need Cenk to play at #1 for next 15-20 years, so he won't play pg. Just an addition. I told his defense perfect. Yes, it is perfect but that is for European U20s. Two months ago, Cenk showed us he is not ready to defend Trajan Langdon. Quote: That's awesome man, how did you become a fan? well, actually it is a long story. It may be silly for you but the days that I started watching NBA, we had the old hawk jerseys. Blaylock, Steve Smith, Dikembe, Leattner etc. We had a great team with a great jersey those days. And also Dominique was a star in Europe.

Scoreboard speaks for itself. It was an easy game for Turkey, so a blowout win was normal. Cenk Akyol started for the Turkish U20 National Team. Milwaukee Bucks' player Ersan Ilyasova (SF) came off the bench, stressing the fact that Cenk is the only star of this squad. Cenk only played 22 minutes, however he dominated the game. 22 minutes, 8/11 FG, 3/6 3ptFG, 1/2 FT, 1 R, 1 A, 2 STL, 2 TO. It was such an easy game so any analysis could lead some wrong ideas. But if we have to talk about Cenk, we can say that he is a true scorer. He made such good fade away jump shots, fearless penetrations. Even he was 3/6 beyond the arc, sometimes he forces too much threes(it is a general problem for him). No problem with Cenk's shot selection, but he need to work on his threes. Defense is something you can call "perfect". He didn't let opponent to breathe. Cenk is a great one-on-one defender. He gets and makes contact. By the way, Germany just shoot 30% FG as a team.

Lorenzen Wright maybe?

Tomorrow FIBA Europe U20 Championship is starting. Cenk Akyol is star of Turkish National Team. Since tournament is taking place in Turkey, I'm going to watch all the games. I'll try to give detailed game reports for you. Cenk is one of the two stars of Turkey. The other one is Milwaukee Bucks' player Ersan Ilyasova. In NT, we have also other two NBA prospects called Semih Erden(PF/C) and Oguz Savas©. Everyone here is expecting Turkey to win the championship while Cenk is leading the squad. Also I'll try to give info about other prospects such as Marco Belinelli, Nemanja Aleksandrov, Milenko Tepic, Dragan Labovic, Nikita Kurbanov, Sergio Rodriguez and Jose Angel Antelo. This is the Link of tournament. Turkey is on GMT +2 time zone.

There are only two things that I didn't like in this draft. First, BK didn't get any of Suns' point guards. Sergio Rodriguez was sold for 3 million dollars; Rondo (Plus Brian Grant as a bonus) was sold for Jiri Welsch. Which was traded for Cavs future first rounder before. Second was again BK not picking Alexander Johnson instead of Solomon Jones. By the way, I didn't even know Jones before the draft, so I have to trust Billy. Anyway, I love Marcus Williams but I'm happy with our new undersized post monster. I'm sure we won't regret.

Good analysis. Since you've made the technical ones, I want to add the other factors. In France, it is a goodbye game to Zizou. It is an extra motivation thing for them. In Italy, they have the scandals and possible punishment. Anyway, I think Italy will get the cup. News: Team Japan's manager Zico joined Turkiye's one of the two biggest clubs, Fenerbahçe SK.