TUR - Kurtoglu: "If you really believe you can do something, you don't ever let it go"

SAITAMA (FIBA World Championship) – Teams continue to fall against Turkey, and Ermal Kurtoglu says Argentina could be next.

Turkey needed a wild card to play in the FIBA World Championship and they have made the most of it, winning four games in Group C and then defeating Slovenia 90-84 in the last 16.

After playing like a lion against Slovenia's big men Rasho Nesterovic and Primoz Brezec, Kurtoglu spoke to PA Sport's Jeff Taylor on behalf of FIBA.

FIBA: Ermal, your team is amazing. You're on a dream run right now. How long is this thing going to go on?

Kurtoglu: "Look, we are not a Cinderella team. This is not a team that came in here, didn't expect anything of itself. Looking at the outside, everyone was saying that we wouldn't be able to do what we've done. I truly believe, and so does everyone else, that we are in it until the end of it.

FIBA: Have you thought about how far you can go in Japan?

Kurtoglu: "We take these World Championship games one by one, because that is the right way to do it. We have to do it that way, to be concentrated and focused. We showed a lot of heart coming into this tournament. As long as we keep doing that, we're going to surprise a lot of people."

FIBA: Greece like to talk about having 12 excellent players and not just one `go-to' man. You could argue that Turkey is the same, even though the team has some young players.

Kurtoglu: "On any given night, anyone is going to step up and hit some shots like Engin Atsur did tonight (Atsur buried two crucial three-pointers in the fourth quarter against Slovenia). Not too many people in Turkey know Engin Atsur because he plays in college in the US and that is not shown in Turkey. But he's showing how tough he is, and that's big. That, coming from a guy who doesn't play in Euroleague competition is real big. That's huge. When you've got nine other guys out there doing that, coming through, that's important."

FIBA: This year has been so different from last, when you didn't play well at the EuroBasket.

Kurtoglu: "We went to Serbia & Montenegro to win a medal. When it was over, we got just one victory, and that was against Bulgaria in overtime. Everybody this year was saying we would barely win against Qatar, and now we're here. And we're going to be here until the end. We are among the eight best teams in the world."

FIBA: You picked up four fouls in the third quarter but stayed in the game. How did you continue to play as hard as you did. It looked like you almost bumped a player out of bounds. Are you not worried about picking up a fifth foul?

Kurtoglu: "We have confidence in each other. I'm not even thinking I've got four fouls. It doesn't matter who is on the floor. Everybody plays his heart out."

FIBA: Slovenia took a 79-74 lead with 3:38 to play. Is there a point when doubt creeps in?

Kurtoglu: "No. It's the heart. If you really believe you can do something, you don't ever let it go. We're never going to let anyone else tell us we don't deserve something."

FIBA: Now you have Argentina, the Olympic champions, in a quarter-final. What are your immediate thoughts?

Kurtoglu: They've got big-time talent, they play as a team. I think maybe they are the best team in the world. They're better than the USA. But I'm looking forward to it. That's what a basketball player wants. This is the best basketball competition in the world. It doesn't get any better than this."

By Jeff Taylor
FIBA