Turkey coach slams American league: NBA has no respect for Europe

Turkish national basketball team head Coach Ergin Ataman criticized the National Basketball Association (NBA) on the grounds of Ömer Aşık's injury and said, "The NBA does not respect Europe."

Ataman said their camp in Italy, which will take place right before the European Championship, is very important and offered insights into the aims of the national basketball team. Saying that it will be relatively easy for them once they make it out of their elimination group at EuroBasket 2015, Ataman continued, "Our first target is to win a medal in the European Championship. Our second target is to be able to participate in the elimination groups to become a part of the Rio Olympics in 2016."

Ataman also commented on Detroit Pistons forward Ersan İlyasova who did not come to the camp in Çeşme and will join the team on Aug. 1 in Italy and Ömer Aşık who got injured while he was playing for the New Orleans Pelicans. He criticized the NBA and said, "İlyosova will join us in Italy on Aug. 1. We gave him three days due to his hard working schedule in the NBA. He will be with us for five weeks and join the team. If he had been in the national team last year, we might have won a medal but he was severely injured." He said that the injury to Aşık was a surprise for him as they were expecting him a couple of days before. "We declared the team line-up about a month ago and he was supposed to come. Aşık worked hard for the national team last year. He played very well and he became successful in the NBA. But unfortunately, he was injured. I believe that this is partly because the NBA and NBA teams do not respect European national teams. We experienced the same thing with Furkan Aldemir. He was told not to join the national team's camp by his club. I argued against it. He pressured his club as he wanted to be with us and joined our camp. This is not only happening to our national team [but to others too]. God willing, FIBA will take necessary precautions in the future. Aşık will be a great loss for our team," said Ataman.

He also commented on the criticism against Bobby Dixon playing in the Turkish national basketball team and said, "I am against the recruitment of sportsmen from other nationalities to the Turkish national team but if FIBA allows it and other teams use this regulation to their advantage, we have to do it. We are playing a team sport. People in Turkey expect success and a medal. Emir Preldzic has been playing for Turkey for years now and he was one of the most important players of the national team last year. However, he suffered a serious injury during the season."

Ataman said that team physicians recommended him to stop playing. "The national team physicians also gave a similar decision and we preferred Bobby Dixon, who has been playing in Turkey for many years and knows our players very well. We could bring a EuroLeague player with a highly successful career in Europe, but Dixon is a beloved player in Turkey," he said, adding that he became a champion this season with his club. "I believe we can create a real team with new young players in following years and do not need players recruited from other countries." Turkey are matched up with some of basketball's biggest countries in the upcoming tournament as the side take on Germany, Serbia, Spain and Italy. "We will play with challenging teams as another drawing is not possible. All five teams that we will play can win medals and even become champion," Ataman added. He said Germany want to be successful as the host country. Italy will take part in the EuroLeague with most of its national players. Serbia, another participant country, made it to the final in last year's World Cup.

Ataman further said that Spain were one of the favorites for the world championship, yet were eliminated early. "We have a difficult group; however we will do our best and will be well-prepared. I believe we will be successful with the prayers of the Turkish people. Even if we are eliminated, our path is clear," he said. Ataman also reaffirmed his targets for EuroBasket 2015. "Our biggest aims to win a medal in the European championship. Our second biggest objective is to be in the last six and have a chance to qualify for the Olympics. Turkey has never qualified for the Olympic tournaments. After the U.S., Turkey is a country where basketball is enthusiastically watched," Ataman said, adding that he wants to see Turkey in the Olympics. "We will work hard to achieve our mission from now on and see the results in September," he concluded.