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Turkey should have no problems

There is a huge difference in quality between these two teams. The Turks should have been fighting for the medals while Greece still haven't won

The competition format at the U-20 EC  is such that last three teams get relegated into Division B. The playoffs for spots 9 to 16 starts today and it involves four teams that got the last place in their groups in the first round and four more teams that had the worst placement in Groups E and F. Today's games are very important as a win means avoiding relegation to Division B.

Turkey are certainly the strongest team to have found themselves in this situation. The young Turks had a great start of the tournament, they got three wins against Russia, Czech Republic and Belgium, but they suffered a heavy defeat against Latvia at the start of the second round. After that, they face the main candidates for gold - France and Spain. They lost against France by a very narrow margin of 2 points in a match in which they were up by 20 points. That obviously set them back a lot as they had no chance against Spain and Wednesday, who were particularly motivated after their defeat against Russia.

The Turks missed their first 11 field goals and they had a 0-16 run. They got their first and only point in the first period from the free-throw line and the period ended with 21-1 for Spain, which pretty much decided the game. Turkey scored only 10 points in the first half but have managed to pick themselves up in the second got a total of 40 points in the entire game. Only thing worth mentioning is 11 points from their center Senyürek  and 9 from Bilgic.

They young Greeks are ideal opponents for Turkey. In terms of offense, Greece are the weakest team on this tournament, they score an average of 45 points while the Turks have the second best defense. Greece have so far gotten 6 defeats and are the only team without a win on this tournament. On Wednesday, they actually played a decent match against Belgium. The fact that scored 54 points and lost by only 7 points doesn't seem that bad, but one should bear in mind it was a game that meant nothing to both teams as Belgium had already secured the top spot in their Group G, while the Greeks couldn't escape the last spot.

Belgium were up for most of the game but Greece finally got the lad by the end of third period. At the start of last period, Greece had a slim lead but Belgium increased their defensive pressure and it was immediately reflected on the scoreline. Nothing new for Greece - poor field goal efficiency (26.2%), 5/28 for three points (17.9%), They had 17 rebounds less and had 4 only 4 assists.

Turkey are the better team in all aspects. They Greeks have suffered the heaviest defeat against France who play a game similar to Turkey's. That obviously doesn't suit the Greeks who have no real center and it's hard to find anything that speaks in their favor. 

Many thought that the Turks were the candidates to take the medals but they lost all 3 games in round 2 (two against very strong French and Spanish teams) and they are facing a very important match against Greece. If they win, they will have secured their place in Division A and if they lose they will find themselves in a tricky situation in which they have to win the remaining two games. Greece have shown little to nothing so far, they still haven't won a single game and their average is 45 points per game. The Turks have the best defense (51.8 points per game allowed) and it's clear the Greeks have a mountain to climb. On the other hand, Turkey have been far from brilliant in offense and their average is 54.7 points. France play a similarly aggressive game and Greece lost against them by 36-67. They lost against Spain by 39-55 and the Turks went over this margin only against teams like Latvia and the Czech Republic. Turkey's average game is 106.5 points and Greece's 107.5, but when you factor in the importance of this game, this seemingly low margin becomes very solid for a moderate stake.