Team USA Edges Turkey in OT 93-92

by **dboss** Tue Sep 03, 2019 5:40 pm

I knew this was going to be a competitive game. Turkey has 3 NBA players on their roster in Ilyasova, Cedi Osman and Furkan Korkmaz. And let's not forget former Celtic Semih Erden.

Jayson Tatum saved our bacon, hitting 2-3 from the line to tie the game sending it into overtime. Then with team USA down by one near the end of the OT period, he fought for and got a rebound (his 11th for the game) dribbled down the center of the court and found Middleton on the fast break as he was cutting to the rim. Middleton missed the shot but got fouled and made both free throws putting team USA up 1.

The final play was a pass to Ilyasovo (played great all game) he was deep on the left side of the court and Marcus Smart would not give him an inch as he defended the 3 point attempt that ended the game.

Jaylen Brown only played 6:12 seconds. He came in at the 4:37 mark of the 1st QTR and I thought he played well. The stats do not show it but he played good defense and was the initiator on the first pass that led to a couple of baskets by the team. He was definitely not getting a lot of touches. he came in at the 1:57 mark of the second QTR and that was all he got.

Kemba Walker Has the IT factor. Kemba finished with 14 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, 3 steals and zero turnovers.

Team USA did not shoot the ball well and seemed to press a bit once Turkey refused to go away.

Tatum sprained his left ankle near the end of OT but not before he fed Middleton on the break. Tatum turned the ball over 4 times but he is really making an effort to be a play maker. He had 3 assists. His defense was top notch (2 steals and 2 blocks)

Team USA has one more game to play in this Phase but they secured their advancement to the next round with this 2nd victory.

Tatum may not be ready to play on Thursday but that's okay. The game against Japan is not significant.

When he got hurt, it scared the hell out of me. Geez..just get our guys home healthy...that is all I care about.

by **bobheckler** Wed Sep 04, 2019 2:31 pm

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/celtics-enes-kanter-reacts-crazy-154641513.html

Celtics' Enes Kanter reacts to crazy finish in Team USA vs. Turkey

Darren Hartwell,NBC Sports Boston

Tue, Sep 3 8:46 AM PDT

Enes Kanter likely was a very conflicted man Tuesday morning.

Kanter has four Boston Celtics teammates playing for Team USA at the 2019 FIBA World Cup. He also hails from Turkey -- whose president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has labeled him a terrorist as a result of the big man speaking out against Erdoğan's harsh regime.

So, Kanter probably had a lot on his mind watching Team USA and Turkey play a surprisingly eventful group stage game at the 2019 FIBA World Cup.

Kanter hosts 45 free basketball camps in record-setting summer
The U.S. survived with a 93-92 overtime win -- prompting a diplomatic tweet from Kanter.

Enes Kanter

@EnesKanter
WOW!!! What a game

1,677
8:04 AM - Sep 3, 2019 · Manhattan, NY

Kanter saw Kemba Walker (15 points) and Jayson Tatum (11 points) play key roles to defeat his native country, as the Celtics teammates combined to score seven of Team USA's 12 points in overtime.

ESPN

@espn
USA SURVIVES!

Khris Middleton's free throws lift the United States over Turkey in the group stage of the FIBA Basketball World Cup!

https://twitter.com/espn/status/1168900656863895552
8,355
7:56 AM - Sep 3, 2019

But Kanter probably didn't enjoy watching Tatum go down with a sprained ankle in the final seconds of overtime.

Team USA and Turkey are in first and second place in their group, respectively, so it's possible both squads could advance to the next round -- in which case Kanter will have more reasons to follow along.

bob

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Team USA Edges Turkey in OT 93-92

Team USA Edges Turkey in OT 93-92

Re: Team USA Edges Turkey in OT 93-92