Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun reports:

Hedo Turkoglu did all his talking on the floor Sunday night.

Had he taken that approach in his season in Toronto not to mention an off-season spent slagging the organization that brought him there, Turkoglu might still have a few fans left in Canada.

As it is, he’s probably not missing any of you.

Not when he’s the biggest sporting entity in his home country of Turkey. That spot of honour was only further solidified after leading the Turkish team into the quarter finals of the FIBA world championship with a 20-point evening that included going 4-of-7 from three point range as Turkey demolished France 95-77.

This was not the Turkoglu Torontonians witnessed. The goofy smiles and clowning around with opponents that marked his time in Toronto was replaced by a game-faced Turkoglu ready to do what needed to be done.

If Turkoglu actually takes Turkey to a world championship title, a distinct possibility with the combination of tight defence and team-play on offence they are showing, bronze statues of Turkoglu will likely begin popping up all over the country.

The AP reports:

USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo and coach Mike Krzyzewski say they are satisfied with what they’ve seen from the undefeated Americans, who face Angola in an elimination game Monday in the round of 16.

But fans and media in Turkey seem to expect a higher level, one reachable by the star-studded Olympic gold medalists of two years ago but maybe not by a young team that hasn’t been together nearly as long.

They expect the U.S. not only to win the tournament, but also every game and perhaps even every quarter along the way. Krzyzewski always faces similar expectations at Duke, where he says ”people think we should win every game and not let anyone score.”

”I don’t want that to be what this team feels,” he said, allowing he’d be OK with any criticisms if he’d brought back the team from Beijing.