Milwaukee Bucks: A Bucks-centric 2019 FIBA World Cup primer

Turkey

Having been a fixture in the national team for almost two decades, veteran Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova will look to lead his home country to a long run in China during this World Cup.

Standing as the 17th ranked team, Turkey is placed alongside the Czech Republic, Japan and the United States of America, all of which makes up Group E and their opponents rank from 24th, 48th and all the way up to first on FIBA’s World Rankings heading into the games.

The 12 Giant Men will first face Japan on Sunday to open up their World Cup run, then on to Team USA on Tuesday and the Czech Republic to round it all out next Thursday. The clashes against the Czech Republic and Japan will be played at 3.30 a.m. central time while Turkey’s meeting against the Americans will tip off at 7.30 a.m. central time.

Should they be among the top two coming out of the first group stage, along with Team USA, we could see Turkey matchup not only against the Americans but also Greece and the Antetokounmpo brothers.

Turkey’s path to blazing a long run in China in hopes of winning a medal is quite fraught with some tough competition and Ilyasova’s veteran leadership and reliability will be needed for them to outperform current expectations.