Sarica with plenty of options as Turkey take aim at World Cup berth
ISTANBUL (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - Turkey have an extended 24-man list of players for the upcoming European Qualifiers against Spain and Montenegro.
ISTANBUL (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - Turkey have announced a 24-man squad of players that coach Ufuk Sarica will choose from for the upcoming fifth window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers against Spain and Montenegro with veterans Oguz Savas, Sinan Guler, Semih Erden and Ali Muhammed among those included.
Turkey will carry a 6-2 record into the fifth window of Qualifiers, which includes a game in Ankara on November 29 against Spain and then a clash with Montenegro in Niksic on December 2.
| Turkey's 24-man squad for FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers | |||
| Ege Arar | Yigit Arslan | Dogus Balbay | Kadir Bayram |
| Metecan Birsen | Berk Demir | Berkan Durmaz | Semih Erden |
| Baris Ermis | Tolga Gecim | Sinan Guler | Goksenin Koksal |
| Melih Mahmutoglu | Ali Muhammed | Ridvan Oncel | Kartal Ozmizrak |
| Sertac Sanli | Oguz Savas | Kenan Sipahi | Bugrahan Tuncer |
| Metin Turen | Berk Ugurlu | Scott Wilbekin | Muhsin Yasar |
Savas, 31, and Guler, 34, became regulars in the national team starting with the FIBA EuroBasket 2009 qualifying campaign but neither has featured so far in the European Qualifiers.
The last Turkey appearance for Savas was the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Manila while Guler hasn't played since FIBA EuroBasket 2017 in Istanbul.
Naturalized guard Scott Wilbekin has shone in the last four Qualifiers and is again in Turkey's squad
Erden has five appearances in the Qualifiers and naturalized playmaker Muhammed two. Teams are only allowed one naturalized player, however, and that may be taken by Scott Wilbekin, a guard that has impressed for Turkey in their last four Qualifiers.
There are numerous other players in the squad that have logged substantial minutes in the Qualifiers. Among them are Dogus Balbay, Sertac Sanli and Melih Mahmutoglu, a trio that has featured in all eight of the games.
Cedi Osman, Furkan Korkmaz and Ersan Ilyasova have returned to their NBA clubs after playing in the June-July and September windows.
FIBA