ATLANTA (FIBA EuroBasket 2017) - Ersan Ilyasova has warned his Turkey teammates that no opponents at FIBA EuroBasket 2017 can be taken lightly.

A member of the senior team since the 2006 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Japan, when Turkey made a surprising run to the Quarter-Finals, veteran Ilyasova just finished an NBA campaign that saw him play for Oklahoma City, Philadelphia and finally, Atlanta.

With the Hawks having fallen to the Washington Wizards in the opening round of the Play-Offs, Ilyasova is ready to turn his full attention to FIBA EuroBasket, with Turkey set to host both Group Phase games and the knockout round.

Turkey will take on solid teams from Great Britain, Latvia, Serbia, Russia and Belgium in Group D.

Now, it doesn't matter who you play against as every national team that goes to EuroBasket can play very good basketballErsan IlyasovaErsan Ilyasova

"It's a tough group," Ilysasova said to FIBA.com. "Now in Europe, you can't consider any team to be easy to beat."

Turkey's players and fans remember FIBA EuroBasket 2015 when Iceland nearly beat them in the Group Phase in Berlin.

There have been other instances when Turkey were not up to the task against international basketball minnows.

"I remember that once we played against Switzerland and didn't expect them to play that well and we ended losing that game. Now, it doesn't matter who you play against as every national team that goes to EuroBasket can play very good basketball.

"The European basketball level has been improving so much in the last couple of years. Each game is going to be a battle; we need to take it game by game. The first goal is to finish among the top positions of the group."

lyasova had to play with a face guard in 2010 

Ilyasova is excited to play for new coach Ufuk Sarica. A former national team player himself, Sarica has been a head coach in Turkey's top flight, including this season with Besiktas.

"He was with us as an assistant coach before and he is a very experienced coach," Ilyasova said.

"He is a very good coach and I'm sure he'll help us improve. He knows how it is to coach at this level as he has been coaching for a while now, so I am pretty confident he can do great things for us."

As the home team in past tournaments, Turkey have proven to be extremely difficult to overcome. They have played at a higher level with the fans behind them.

"They can be a huge boost for us," Ilyasova said. "They will be pushing us and supporting us from day one, and we will do everything to make them proud.

"Our team has a lot of talent and we have some of the best basketball fans in the world so we have all the ingredients to have a great tournament. I hope everyone is going to be in the best shape and ready for this important competition."

When they hosted EuroBasket 2001, long before Ilyasova's arrival, Turkey finished runners-up to Yugoslavia and nine years later as hosts of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the team went unbeaten before falling to the United States in the title game.

"Winning the title would be the best thing ever but if not, winning a medal would be a great performance for us," Ilyasova said.

Ilyasova says that playing at home should bring a good pressure for the players.

"Every time Turkey has played at home in the last couple of years, we have had some great campaigns, including the one in 2010 for the World Cup," he said.

"I hope it will be the same this summer as we're going to play in front of our fans. Their presence gives us an extra motivation and it feels great to be supported by an entire country."

FIBA