EUROBASKET 2011

Ersan Ilyasova has his eyes firmly set on a medal finish for Turkey

Ersan Ilyasova doesn't believe there will be any hiccups in the transition from legendary coach Bogdan Tanjevic to Orhun Ene.

The first day's play at the EuroBasket suggests he is right.

Ene, who was an assistant to Tanjevic the past several years, won his first game as the coach at the tournament with a 79-56 blowout of Portugal.

Turkey, the second-seeded team to fall in Group A, were big favourites but few would have predicted such a wide margin of victory.

"He was assistant coach to the team so we know him well," Ilyasova said to FIBA Europe.

"We basically play the same system as we did before.

"He is a very good coach. He really motivates us and we will see that in this tournament."

Ene did not hit any panic buttons in the preparations as Turkey put forth some lacklustre performances early on, though they did finish with wins in the Adidas Istanbul Cup and friendly victory over Montenegro.

"We didn't play well in our exhibition games," Ilyasova said.

"But with the tournament starting, we are fully concentrated and ready to play much better."

Ilyasova seems to think that getting to the podium at the EuroBasket will be harder than last year, when they hosted the FIBA World Championship and captured a silver medal.

"The (24-team) European Championship is very different to the World Championship," he said.

"There are a lot of good teams in our group and every game is important. We have to go step by step and take it one game at a time."

Ilyasova does think that Turkey caught a break from the draw since after the game against Portugal, they take on Great Britain.

"It gives us a little bit of an advantage because if you start to play against Spain or another top team, it is hard to prepare ourselves," he said.

We knew Portugal were going to be a good team but not of the same level of Spain.

"To start a tournament with wins is always important."

There is pressure on Turkey to do well this summer, just like last year in Ankara and Istanbul.

"The European Championship is important also because of the qualification for the Olympics," he said.

The sides that reach the Final will earn a trip to the London Games, and the teams that come in third, fourth, fifth and sixth will book places at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

"For us, our aim is always to reach the medals, it doesn't matter if it's gold, silver or bronze," the Milwaukee Bucks forward said.

"We just want to reach the podium. We first have to be first of our group and see who we play against."