There are games, and then THERE ARE GAMES!

On Tuesday night in Ankara, it's the latter.

Turkey, the hosts of this year's FIBA World Championship, are taking on their rivals Greece in a GAME that people in both countries have been talking about since last December's draw.

Ersan Ilyasova is the leading scorer for Turkey at 13.5 points per game and adds 9 rebounds per contest

The coaches and players may try to play down the significance of the contest since it's a meeting in pool play, especially since both sides have gotten off to 2-0 starts.

They may try to draw a line under the showdowns of the past between the sides, like the Quarter-Final last year in Katowice that Greece won in overtime to stay on course for a medal and punch their ticket for this year's big event.

Jonas Kazlauskas of Greece said: "I understand the importance of the games between Greece and Turkey. It is like the games we had between Lithuania and Russia.

"But at the same time it's one game."

The reality is, it's much more than one game.

There is a deep history between these two nations and it's not just about basketball.

And also, the fans always expect their teams to win these games - no matter what.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke about the clash.

"Tuesday's game against Greece is extremely important," he said.

"I spoke with Turkish Basketball Federation president Turgay Demirel and I got information from him that if we end up on top of the group, it will make our path easier at the World Championship.

"I spoke with the ‘A' National Team after the game (against Russia) and I saw the excitement in the players.

"This is a real important opportunity for our ‘A' National Team because our nation is at a time when everyone loves basketball and having the tournament here."

Anyone that travels to Turkey now is hit right in the face by basketball.

The entire country is being swept about by a euphoria that hasn't been here since 2001, when the national team went on a spine-tingling run to the Final before falling to the former Yugoslavia.

There are billboards with Turkish players and magazine articles.

Garanti Bank has a TV commercial that shows a basketball game between two boys teams in which all are wearing Turkish national team jerseys.

Suddenly the game stops.

The Turkey national team appears on the left with all of the players not wearing jerseys.

Guard Kerem Tunceri then speaks and says, "Give us our jerseys, please."

One of the boys replies, "We are getting ready for the World Championship."

Tunceri answers, "For this Championship, we will play. For the next, you will."

The children then give the players their jerseys.

Garanti then informs the audience that they are supporting basketball for the adults, but also the youngsters at the academies in Turkey.

Basketball hype is in overdrive and it's not just in Ankara where Turkey are playing in Group C.

There is a huge buzz in Istanbul, where fans are waiting for Hedo Türkoglu and Co to arrive for the knockout round.

Before they travel to the city where east meets west, they have two games to play.

The Greek game is what everyone is talking about.

Vasileios Spanoulis spoiled the party for Turkey last time as he scored two three pointers in overtime that fueled the Greeks to victory

"Last year, we lost to Greece in the Quarter-Finals," Turkey coach Bogdan Tanjevic said. "This is going to be a revenge game.

"My players believe that we are going to win this game. If we can put all of our energy for the entire game, we can win in this great atmosphere.

"We need to not let the Greek team get the rebounds."

Turkoglu, Turkey's biggest star, said: "We are in a great position right now.

"We will win the game against Greece.

"We want to win this game with the support of our fans with a great basketball.

"The two great basketball players of Greece, their suspensions end for this game."

Indeed, Sofoklis Schortsanitis and Antonis Fotsis, who were banned for two games as punishment for their roles in the brawl against Serbia late in their friendly before the FIBA World Championship, will play for the first time.

"These two players were very important names last year," Turkoglu said.

"We played a very close game against Greece and this game, I'm expecting to see that once again."