Sarica names his '12 Giant Men' roster; Dixon cut short due to injury
ISTANBUL (FIBA EuroBasket 2017) - Turkey became the last team to announce their FIBA EuroBasket 2017 roster, with head coach Ufuk Sarica forced to leave out point guard Bobby Dixon out of the squad.
ISTANBUL (FIBA EuroBasket 2017) - Turkey became the last team to announce their FIBA EuroBasket 2017 roster, with head coach Ufuk Sarica forced to leave out point guard Bobby Dixon (Ali Muhammed) out of the squad because of medical reasons.
In spite of being the shortest member of the squad, the 5ft 10in (1.78m) spark plug Fenerbahce playmaker would have been an essential part of the Turkish national team, often referred to as the '12 Giant Men'.
| Turkey roster for FIBA EuroBasket 2017 | |||
| Furkan Aldemir | Dogus Balbay | Semih Erden | Sinan Guler |
| Baris Hersek | Goksenin Koksal | Furkan Korkmaz | Melih Mahmutoglu |
| Cedi Osman | Sertac Sancli | Kenan Sipahi | Erkan Veyseloglu |
With the absence of Dixon, a lot of the burden will fall on the shoulders of veterans Sinan Guler and Semih Erden, with youngsters Cedi Osman and Furkan Korkmaz also taking on some of the load.
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— TBF (@TBForgtr) August 30, 2017
The remaining point guards on the team include Dogus Balbay and Kenan Sipahi, who will have to take on more responsibilities for one of the hosts of the Group Phase in Istanbul.
The Sarica-coached Turkey will play their first game in Group D against Russia, at Fenerbahce Arena on Friday, with Belgium, Great Britain, Latvia and Serbia rounding out the lineup.
FIBA