Turkey Takes a Tumble

Tonight, the US defeated Turkey 114-82, a solid victory, though not nearly as diamond-like as the beating they gave Canada.

This game was of special interest to me because I'm half-Turkish and lived in Istanbul last year. I saw many of the Turkish players play live and it was fun to see them match up with some of my favorite NBA superstars, even if they outcome was, well, expected.

A few observations before I call it a night -

1. Bless Rick Kamla, the play-by-play announcer for ESPN. First off all - I have mad respect for the man. He gets PAID to write and talk about Fantasy NBA basketball. He has to have one of the coolest jobs on this terrestial orb.

BUT the guy couldn't pronounce Turkish correctly to save his fantasy squad. He repeatedly called Kerem Gönlüm, Kerem GONE-lume. It should have been more like "Gewm-leum". The ö and ü are hard for Americans to pronounce, granted, but still, maybe they could have gotten somebody to have shown him. Also, Ersan Ilyasova become "Arson." Such a mistake won't burn down the house, but it was annoying to those who knew better.

2.Fran Frashilla , the color commentator, was definitely more on target with pronunciation but some of his talent evaluation struck me as errant. Take his analysis of Semih Erden, one of Turkey's tallest and most athletic players. On the surface, Semih looks fine. Until you realize he's only half-way there. I remember watching him play with my Turkish friends and being awed by his inconsistency - he could turn in a highlight dunk one moment and churn out a dunce-headed blunder the next. My friends told me he wasn't the brightest lighthouse on the coast.

Yet Fran maintained that had Semih gone to an American college he would have been drafted in the top 20 of the most recent NBA Draft, instead of at the bottom of the 2nd round. The reason: "Because he's a young man with a lot of international experience." So if a 22-year plays four years with a Euroleague-caliber team but can never produce more than 7.1 points and 5.4 rebounds a game he is considered a potential top-20 pick. I don't think so.

He should have either a) produced more (and consistently) when he had the chance or
b) accomplished what he did as a much younger player.

3) Dwight Howard is the fearsomeist, slamjamminist, most awesome, glorified Garbage Man ever. His hands are hoover vacs and I swear his legs have rocket propellant in them.