Turkish national basketball team "12 Giant Men" got prepared to face Slovenia in a quarter final game in FIBA 2010 World Basketball Championship.
12 giant men count on team defense in the game which will take place in Istanbul at 9:00 p.m. Turkish local time on Wednesday.
Turkey is hosting FIBA 2010 World Basketball Championship.
Player Kerem Gonlum told Basketball Federation`s official web-site that support of fans was important for the team, adding that winning all the five games in group stage gave a self-confidence to the team.
Gonlum said that he thought the match against Slovenia would be difficult, but he also expressed belief that the team would be qualified for semi-final with a good defense.
Another player Omer Onan said that Slovenia had qualified long and short players, adding that Turkish team have won all the six games since the beginning of championship, and it would take necessary action against Slovenia`s team.
Onan said that the team would make a hard defense in the match.
Player Semih Erden said that all the teams competing in the World Championship were strong, and tomorrow`s game would have no return, adding that Turkish team wanted to defeate Slovenia and present this victory to millions of Turkish supporters.
On the other hand, Ender Arslan said that game against Slovenia would be a big step both for Turkish basketball and the career of players.
"If we are qualified for semi-finals, it will be a first in Turkish basketball history. It will be our best rank in championship history," he added.
Also, experienced player Kerem Tunceri said that it would be the biggest game ever in Turkish basketball history. He added that Slovenia was a very good team and Turkey would do its best to win the game.
Turkish team`s captain Hidayet Turkoglu said that if they won this game, it would be one of the most important results of Turkish sports history.
Turkoglu said that they were eliminating the deficiencies (which they saw during the games) in the training and getting more successful.
Also, player Ersan Ilyasova said that they had gained the desired results so far, and they had full confidence.
Turkey and Slovenia had seven official encounters so far in international tournaments. Turkey had only one win against Slovenia in these games.
The winner of the match will face the winner of Serbia-Spain quarter final to take place Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. Turkish local time.
Semi-final match will be played on Saturday.
Turkey completed Group C as the leader by defeating Ivory Coast, Russia, Greece, Puerto Rico and China, and became a first quarter finalist after defeating France in round of last 16.