Tournament hosts Turkey trim squad to 14 players; Yurtseven and Gecim cut

PRAGUE (FIBA EuroBasket 2017) - Tournament hosts Turkey are getting closer to their final look for FIBA EuroBasket 2017 after head coach Ufuk Sarica trimmed the list of candidates to just 14 players.

Youngsters Omer Yurtseven and Tolga Gecim were the latest players to receive the axe after Turkey's last friendly game against Czech Republic, which was marked with a close-fought 67-66 victory in Prague.

Neither the 19-year-old Yurtseven, nor the 21-year-old Gecim were registered for the game in the Czech capital, with the recent Cleveland Cavaliers signee Cedi Osman shining with a game-high 19 points and 8 rebounds.

Furkan Aldemir was the only other double-digit scorer with 11 points and 7 rebounds, while the spark plug scorer Ali Muhammed chipped in with 9 points, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer to win the game at the end of regulation.

The team's playcaller Sarica acknowledged that there is still work to be done, but the process is moving in the right direction in spite of a couple losses to Italy and Finland in Bormio and a close escape against Czech Republic.

"We have to work both on building a new system and forming bonds between the players, who are just starting to play with each other, which makes our job difficult," said the head coach of the Turkish national team.

"From this point of view, I cannot say that we are 100 percent ready, but as long as our players continue to adapt to the system and show the same dedication during practices like they have, we will be good to go after the final preparation games."

Turkey are now headed to one of the four Group Phase hosts Tel Aviv, where they will get to square off against Slovenia and Israel in a three-team tournament before returning to Istanbul for the final stage of preparations.

In FIBA EuroBasket 2017, coach Sarica's side will play in the Istanbul-based Group D alongside Belgium, Great Britain, Latvia, Russia and Serbia.

FIBA