Should Turkey eventually secure a spot in the FIBA World Cup 2019, the efforts of Furkan Korkmaz during the qualifying stages of the event will likely prove to be a key reason why.
In what was likely his final appearance for the Turks until next summer, when the World Cup is held throughout China, the second-year 76er swingman dropped a game-high tying 24 points in Turkey’s 86-77 victory Monday over EuroBasket champion Slovenia.
The impressive performance was the latest on the international circuit for Korkmaz. In four FIBA European qualifiers dating back to June, he averaged 20.3 points per game, good for fifth-best among all players.
The 21-year old was used exclusively off the bench for the Turkish national team, which is ranked 17th in the world.
Turkey also won each of the four contests Korkmaz participated in, to put itself in control of its own destiny in respect to clinching a berth in the World Cup field this time next year.
For as auspicious as the latest qualifying window was for Turkey, the same could not be said for Croatia. It endured a 79-74 defeat Monday to Poland.
Dario Saric tallied 17 points (6-14 fg, 2-5 3fg), seven rebound, and four assists in 33 minutes. He too, like Korkmaz, is expected to be with the Sixers when qualifying resumes in November.
Croatia went 0-2 in the latest qualifiers.
The 12 European teams with the highest point totals when qualifying ends in February move on to China.