RUS/TUR – Going for gold and direct trip to London

LODZ (EuroBasket Women 2011) - A look back at the recent history of the EuroBasket Women reveals why Russia are the number two team in the FIBA World Rankings.

They have been in every European Final since 2001.

Russia have also been solid at the Olympic Games and the FIBA World Championships for Women, excluding last year's debacle in the Czech Republic when they crashed out of the competition in the Quarter-Finals.

Heading into Sunday's title tilt with Turkey, the Russians are clear favorites.

A win over the Turks would mark the third consecutive time Russia qualify automatically for the Olympic Games courtesy of being champions of Europe. They achieved this in both 2003 and 2007.

Turkey, meanwhile, are riding a four-game winning streak, the last of which came against defending champions France on Friday night in an overtime thriller.

This team better not be underestimated by Russia.

It's been a summer for firsts for Turkey.

Never before had they reached the Quarter-Finals, never mind the last four or the Championship game of a EuroBasket Women.

Who knows, maybe they'll have another first with a victory in the biggest game a Turkish women's team has ever played in.

As always at a EuroBasket Women, the stakes could not be any higher in the Final.

There is nothing quite like going to the top of the podium and being decorated with a gold medal.

Additionally, the winners will play at the London Games while the team that loses will compete at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Turkey know what they're up against this time.

On June 20 in Bydgoszcz, they played Russia in a First Round game and lost, 80-65.

Ceyhyn Yildizoglu's team was effectively knocked out in the opening quarter when the Russians, coached by Boris Sokolovskiy, outscored them 29-7.

While Russia made seven of 11 three-pointers in the game, they didn't have any shots from the arc in that first 10 minutes.

Instead, they made lay-up after lay-up after lay-up, with a few mid-range jump shots thrown in for good measure.

Russia destroyed Turkey in that game, but they didn't begin to look like world beaters until they took on Latvia in the Quarter-Finals.

A true wake-up call for Russia in this tournament came in a Round 2 game against Great Britain on June 27, a contest they trailed in 25-10 early in the second quarter but came back to win, 62-59.

The game was so hard for Russia that twice Ilona Korstin was caught elbowing Britain's Natalie Stafford, the second time with less than two seconds remaining in the game to earn the veteran a straight ejection.

Svetlana Abrosimova, the Russia captain, had also been slapped with an unsportsmanlike foul in the third quarter.

She floored Stafford with a right elbow to the head after the British guard had turned her back to Abrosimova.

Russia were fortunate to escape with a 4,000 Euro fine as Korstin could have been suspended one, three or five games.

If those unsavory episodes showed a dark side of Russia's play, the hot-shooting of Elena Danilochkina the next two games showed another.

Danilochkina, following up 16-point efforts in Round 2 wins over the Czechs and Brits on a combined 12 of 24 shooting from the floor, had 18 points in an 83-72 Quarter-Final win over Latvia and 18 again in the 85-53 Semi-Final romp over the Czechs.

She was seven of nine from the field against Latvia while against the Czechs, she was eight of 10 from the floor.

In fact, in the Semi-Final triumph over the Czechs, Danilochkina didn't miss a shot from the floor before the break, pouring in 16 points with makes on all four shots from long range.

Russia seem to have built up an unstoppable momentum, yet Turkey should not be underestimated because they have enjoyed an out-of-this-world transformation and have momentum themselves.

After wins over Britain and Belarus, Turkey thrashed previously unbeaten Montenegro and then stunned France.

The French were supposed to have the edge on the frontline but during and after that game, the only player people wanted to talk about was Nevin Nevlin of Turkey.

The 26-year-old center finished with 23 points and eight rebounds.

“This is huge," Nevlin said of the win over the French to FIBA.com on Friday night.

"This is one of the biggest moments of my basketball career.

"It has the potential of being bigger in two days."

FIBA