The best time to assess Turkey's chances at next month's European Championships will be on Sunday after the Efes Pilsen Istanbul World Cup 2, according to national team boss Aydin Ors.

Ors has watched his side lose a handful of games against strong opposition over the past two weeks, but he has brushed those results aside as unimportant.

Turkey prevailed just once in the Bormio tournament in Italy - a narrow win over European minnows Sweden - while losing to the Italians and Lithuania.

Last week they dropped a couple of games against Germany in Nurnberg (83-82) and Frankfurt (78-64).

The coach has remained calm.

"If we were a little bit more cautious in the last quarter, we could have won the match,"
Ors said of the Nurnberg defeat on Friday.

"It showed that we have made a lot of progress since the training camp in Italy.  The players are getting used to each other. We will go to Sweden being ready in every way possible.

He remained equally upbeat after the loss in Frankfurt the following day.

“We played one of the most important teams in Europe,” he said.

“The results are not so important in preparation games. But we are learning our lessons from these. The real test will be the Efes Cup in Istanbul.”

Over the next five days, Turkey, world and European champions Serbia & Montenegro, Italy, Russia, Latvia and New Zealand will go to battle.

New Zealand, who reached the semi-finals of the World Championships, are warming up for their forthcoming Oceania games against Australia.

The other visitors are all teams in the European Championships. It is a crucial tournament for Turkey for several reasons. They are playing at home, so it is an excellent chance to build some confidence."

As the hosts, they can keep expectations high among their vocal support. Turkey can strike a psychological blow to their Eurobasket opponents, and the country's players will also have a chance to find some rhythm which has so far been missing in their preparations.

With the championships quickly approaching, expectations are soaring in Turkey, where Eurobasket 2001 was staged.

Turkey truly emerged as a force in the game and made it all the way to the final before losing to Serbia & Montenegro (then referred to as Yugoslavia).

They made no impact in Indianapolis last summer at the World Championships, but Ors does not believe that should be a factor.

There is a euphoria around the national team because of the blend of NBA and European talent in the side.

Hidayet Turkoglu, who has just moved from Sacramento to the NBA champions San Antonio Spurs, and the Detroit Pistons' emerging star Mehmet Okur give a team loaded with talent two figures who are accustomed to going to war against the likes of Germany's Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks) and Spain's Pau Gasol (Memphis Grizzlies).

Turkey open their account against Russia on Wednesday night and then face Latvia on Thursday.

The semi-finals and championship game will be staged on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.