Scouting Cenk Akyol

[twentythree]

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.

[vdunkndunk]

Thanks, I'd be very interested to know how's he playing out there.

[WraithSentinel]

I am looking forward to hearing something on this guy. I hope we see him playing for the Hawks in another year or two.

[Popeye]

Thanks, we expect some good analysis from you.

[twentythree]

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.

[Dragitoff]

Wow, 20pts. in only 22 minutes. Not bad. I thought he was regarded as a PG?

[WraithSentinel]

That is great to here. Thanks for the updates and keep them coming.

[DavidSomerset]

That's awesome man, how did you become a fan?

[exodus]

Thanks for the info.

[twentythree]

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Wow, 20pts. in only 22 minutes. Not bad. I thought he was regarded as a PG?

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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.

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That's awesome man, how did you become a fan?

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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.

[Popeye]

Great analisys, thanks

[TheDude]

sounds like could be our own ginobli.

[twentythree]

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.

[DrReality]

Very cool to have a report from around the world. Appreciate it. Peace.

[twentythree]

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.

[DrReality]

Who would you compare him with that is or has been in the NBA?

[BusBoyIsBack]

Do you guys think this guy will seriously come over in the next 2-3 years?

[twentythree]

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Who would you compare him with that is or has been in the NBA?

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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.

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Do you guys think this guy will seriously come over in the next 2-3 years?

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He said he won't go to NBA at least for two years.

[twentythree]

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.

[DrReality]

How old is he now? More of a two guard than a pg?