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Cedi Osman: “We have to play our best game”

Photo: Turkish Basketball Federation

Cedi Osman, one of the leaders of the Turkish national team, talked about the upcoming Basketball World Cup.

Here is what the guard/forward of the Cleveland Cavaliers said, per FIBA:

On competing in the Basketball World Cup: “Obviously, we don’t have a lot of experience, especially at the World Cup. There are only two players who have really played – Ersan Ilyasova and Semih Erden – and I played in 2014 but not too much.

That’s why I think this is going to be a really good experience for everybody, so we just have to keep playing well.”

On facing Team USA, the Czech Republic and Japan in the group stage: “I think we’re in a tough group. We don’t know much about Japan, but we talked to the coaches a bit and know they’re a really dangerous team.

Obviously, the United States aren’t coming with their best team, but it’s a very deep roster and still have a lot of good NBA players. It’s tough, but it’s not impossible to beat them.

We have to play our best game, try to win and try to get first in the group. I believe that we have a good team for that.”

On Turkey’s chances to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games: “First, we have to finish top two in our group and then the same in the second group, which is going to be really tough.

But I believe we have that mentality and we can be in the Olympics.”

On his individual performance: “I feel really comfortable, especially with my experience playing with the Cleveland Cavaliers. That helped a lot. It helped me grow my basketball, so I believe in myself on both sides of the court.

I’ve been working hard since May. We had a few months off after the season, so I rested a little bit and then started working on my game because I know that this will be a really important summer for me.”

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