TUR - National team selection is biggest honour for Atsür

ISTANBUL (2010 FIBA World Championship for Men) - Turkey national team guard Engin Atsür has said that playing for Turkey in front of the home fans at this summer's FIBA World Championship will be the proudest moment of his career.

"Playing for the national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship is a huge honour for me," said the 26-year-old guard. "There can't be any other source of pride better than being selected to the national team, and representing 70 million people on the court.

"Like the 2001 EuroBasket, our fans will create a great atmosphere for us and we want to use it for our advantage."

Nine years ago, Atsür supported the national team from the stands when Turkey hosted the European Championship, an experience he remembers fondly.

"I was 17 when we were playing in 2001. We had so many hard games. We won two or three games thanks to the amazing enthusiasm of the fans and we finished the tournament in second place," he recalled.

Flash forward to 2010 and, as Atsür readies himself for the World Championship, he has one precise ultimate goal in mind for the national team.

"We are assertive for World Championship and we want to play in final," he stated.

However, the Besiktas Cola Turka playmaker explained that this lofty goal would only be achieved by going step by step. He pointed out that qualifying from the group stages is the first hurdle and made no secret of the fact that it will be a tough journey, despite the Turks' clear home court advantage.

"We have the home court advantage but it will be tough. Of course our fans will support us, but the world's biggest teams and players will compete in here," Atsür warned.

"We want to qualify from the group with an advantageous result. We will approach the tournament step by step. We certainly want to play in the final and win a medal. However, at the moment, setting these goals is not very realistic."

And the former North Carolina State product points to the consistency in the national team's squad as a vital ingredient to Turkey's success and ability to play well as a group.

"We have played in tournaments with a certain squad for a few years now. Players have known each other for a long time. The important thing is to be a team," he said.

Atsür also talked about the absences of Mehmet Okur, Omer Asik and Kerem Gonlum.

"We would like to have Omer Asik and Kerem Gonlum in top shape, but these things happen," he offered. "When we look at other countries, Tony Parker (France) and LeBron James (USA) stated that they will be absent from their national teams too.

"We have a great team. We have the ability to compensate the absence of anyone in this team. So, I don't think that it will be a very big deal."

Atsür who helped Besiktas Cola Turka reach the semi-final stages of the Beko Basketbol Ligi, described his situation for next season as "uncertain".

He has an offer from Medical Park Trabzonspor, one of the league's newest team, and one possibly from Fenerbahce Ulker. However, he did not give any indication as to what he was thinking.

"At the moment, I'm just waiting. There are several offers from Europe too. Anything can happen. It depends on the nature of the role that I will play in the team and the offer. I will give my decision according to these criteria," he explained.

Asked if playing for a team competing in the Euroleague was a factor in his decision, Atsür replied: "Since the Euroleague is the highest level of European Basketball, it would be great."

FIBA