TUR – Ene’s aim is London

BORMIO (EuroBasket 2011) – Turkey have travelled to Bormio, Italy, to continue their EuroBasket preparations with one thing in mind.

New coach Orhun Ene and his players are looking to book a trip to the London Games.

To do so, the Turks will need to reach the Final.

Otherwise, Turkey will be invited to next year’s 12-team FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament if they finish third, fourth, fifth or sixth.

Turkey will compete in Group A at the EuroBasket with Spain, Lithuania, Great Britain, Poland and one of the two sides that comes out of the Additional Qualifying Round (Portugal, Hungary or Finland).

Ene, a former national team guard who served as an assistant to former Turkey coach Bogdan Tanjevic, has stressed the need to blend in the young players with the experienced ones during the camp.

“We have a strong squad,” Ene said.

“If everything goes according to our plan, we can be successful at the EuroBasket and qualify for the Olympics.”

The team will have a training camp in Bormio for 16 days.

The first morning session consisted of a program designed to improve the physical condition while in the evening, there was basketball training.
 
Tanjevic, who is now national teams technical coordinator, and veteran forward Kerem Gonlum have joined the team in Italy.

Gonlum was allowed to arrive late so he could attend his sister’s wedding.

Chicago Bulls center Omer Asik was expected to arrive at the camp on Monday.

FIBA