TUR - Tanjevic maintains even keel

THESSALONIKI (Euroleague) - Turkey advanced to the quarter-final round at the EuroBasket last year in Madrid, but overall, results didn't go as planned.

The national team wasn't able to build on the solid campaign it had had at the 2006 FIBA World Championship when it made a surprising run to the last eight.

Even so, national team boss Bogdan Tanjevic wore a smile after every game in Spain.

He's been around long enough to know that some years are better than others.

In 1999, for example, he led Italy to the FIBA Europe Championship gold medal.

After last year's EuroBasket, Tanjevic parted with Turkey but took the helm of one of the country's biggest teams, Fenerbahce Ulker. And performances on the court by Fener in the Euroleague are giving him plenty of reasons to smile now.

Not only did they advance to the Top 16, they won their first game on Thursday away to Aris in Greece.

"This win is nothing more than the first step," Tanjevic said. "I hope that my players will keep playing like this in the upcoming games."

Lynn Greer, a former collegian at Temple, also played in Greece last night but with Olympiacos.

His team suffered a 75-67 defeat to Maccabi Tel Aviv, despite Greer pouring in 27 points.

Despite the setback, Greer was statistically the best player in this round of the competition.

He was named Euroleague Player of the Week.

FIBA