Turkey Overpower GB, Eurobasket Day 2

By Sam Neter on September 1, 2011

Great Britain could do very little as Turkey overpowered them for a 90-61 victory at Eurobasket 2011 on Thursday afternoon.

Turkey’s size and offensive prowess was just too much for GB as they dominated the boards, and shot a blistering 54.8% from the field.

GB head coach Chris Finch was disappointed with GB’s lack of aggressiveness early:

“Turkey were excellent today and the game was won in the first quarter with their threes and offensive rebounds. I’m extremely concerned about the fact that we weren’t aggressive enough early in the game. I’m surprised we were tentative, we just need to get better.”

Big man Eric Boateng was also disappointed with the heavy loss:

“We were disappointing today, and we just have to do better. We fought hard yesterday, and mentally we still tried hard today, but we just have to learn from this and get ready for the next game.”

Luol Deng led GB again with 22 points and 8 rebounds, whilst Kyle Johnson had 10 in his official GB debut.

GB fell to 0-2 in the competition and things don’t get any easier as they take on Spain tomorrow. They need a top three finish in Group A to advance.

Box score, play by play and statistics available here.

Other Results in Group A

Spain 87 – 73 Portugal
Defending champions Spain had little trouble dispatching of Portugal to move to a perfect 2-0 at Eurobasket and remain atop of Group A.. Pau Gasol once again led Spain with 20 points, whilst Juan Carlos Navarro had 17, and Marc Gasol and Reyes added 10 each. Antonio Tavares had 17 to lead Portugal. Box score, play by play and statistics available here.

Lithuania 97 – 77 Poland
Lithuania proved too strong for Poland, rolling to a 21 point victory. The Lithuanians were led by 19 points from Mantas Kalnietis, whilst Thomas Kelati once again led Poland with 16. Box score, play by play and statistics here.

Standings in Group A after Day 2

1. Turkey 2/0
2. Lithuania 2/0
3. Spain 2/0
4. Poland 0/2
5. Portugal 0/2
6. Great Britain 0/2

Notes

GB starters: Ogo Adegboye, Nate Reinking, Luol Deng, Drew Sullivan and Dan Clark.
Robert Archibald was still not available and has reportedly been in hospital due to his migraines.
Devon van Oostrum got a chance and ran with it, once again showing his superior vision and some energy off the bench.
Turkey had 24 assists to GB’s 5.
Find all the results and statistics from other groups at the official Eurobasket site.

Image credit: Mansoor Ahmed/Mansoor Ahmed Photography

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