TUR - Plenty of promise

ISTANBUL (NBA) - There will be many a Turkish basketball fan watching with envy this summer when the London Games are staged.

While the women still have an opportunity to claim a spot in Britain as hosts of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Ankara, the men's team has no chance.

The Turkish men saw their hopes of reaching the Olympics die when they came up short of the Quarter-Finals at EuroBasket 2011.

For a national side that has some of international basketball's best players, a team that captured the silver medal at the 2010 FIBA World Championship, to be out of contention for a spot in London is a huge disappointment.

What Turkey's fans can console themselves with, however, is the promise that they have in abundance.

Two players who figure to be in the national team set-up for many years to come who have been raising eyebrows in the United States and Canada are Enes Kanter of the Utah Jazz and Omer Asik of the Chicago Bulls.

Kanter is still only 19 but seeing a lot of time as a rookie in the NBA.

The 2.11m center is productive in his 13.9 minutes per contest, averaging 4.7 points and 5.1 rebounds.

In a team that is rebuilding, Kanter has already established himself as a fierce rebounder.

When it comes to working on the boards, he does so with technique, and strength.

"I want to do just defense and rebound," Kanter said.

"That's what coach (Tyrone Corbin) tells me to do, just go touch every rebound and have a good defense, so I'm just trying to do my best - and that's what my teammates need."

Corbin, who played for many years in the NBA himself, has been impressed.

"He reads where the shot's coming from and he does his work early," Corbin said.

"He is physical. He's a big young guy who can take a pounding and deliver it, too.

"He wants the ball, so if it's in his area he really does a good job of trying to attack where the ball is."

Teammate Al Jefferson says Kanter is tough to go up against in practice.

"He's going after every ball," Jefferson said.

"I hate guarding him because I've got to block him out, and it's hard because he's moving non-stop."

The 2.13m Asik, meanwhile, has seen his minutes go up from 12.1 per game as a rookie last season to 17.9 this season and that's worthy of praise when considering how talented the Chicago Bulls are.

After a recent 77-64 victory over Toronto, Raptors coach Dwane Casey raved about the Turkish center.

"He's an effective big man," Casey said.

"Length, size, strength, he knows how to play, and he's experienced from playing over in Europe."

Asik and Taj Gibson have been big surprises this season for Chicago.

Chicago point guard Derrick Rose, who played against Asik at the World Championship before playing alongside him in the NBA, said of both Gibson and the Turk: "They really have been on the same page when they're out there on defense.

"Offensively, they need to look for their shot a little bit more. But defensively, they're great for us. They lock teams down."

Asik and Kanter played at the EuroBasket in Lithuania last year but weren't able to get Turkey into the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Rest assured, with these two centers, Turkey have plenty of cause to be optimistic for the future.

FIBA