The NFL Week 3 Review
Week 3 was a very exciting and impactful week in The National Football League. I was not very surprised to witness The Buffalo Bills defeat The New England Patriots because from a far The Bills have changed the entire culture in Orchard Park, New York. On Sunday, The Bills became the first team in NFL history to win two games in a season when trailing by 18 plus point during a point in each of those games. Ryan Fitzpatrick has shown the world that he can compete on the same stage as Pats Quarterback Tom Brady. The Detroit Lions defeated The Vikings in The Metro Dome on Sunday to stay on course for a perfect season. The Lions came back from a 20 to 0 deficit to give the Vikings its third straight loss of this early season.
The New York Giants have a lot to be proud of after their surprising victory over The Eagles on Sunday. The Giants was able to take Vick out the game, and hold illusive receiver Desean Jackson to only two catches for 30 yards. The offensive line has to be addressed in Philly land because Michael Vick is getting killed out there on the field. The Giants defensive line manhandled the Eagles defensive line in a way that really redirected my opinion of the so called “Dream Team”. The New York Jets didn’t look to stellar on Sunday due to a physical and rough Oakland Raiders team. The Raiders half back Darren McFadden is finally starting to reach his highly acclaimed potential and has displayed a new found professionalism and focus. The Jets let Darren McFadden run all over their defense for an astonishing 171 yards. The Jets offensive line looked terrible, and must be reconstructed because Mark Sanchez can’t sling the ball for over forty times in a game and be successful. I think The New York Jets might want to call Tiki Barber to see if he can help spark their dreadful running game. Just a thought Jets fans………
Cam Newton continues to impress me with his ability to grasp the football world. The Carolina Panthers won their first game on Sunday, and they are only a game back from being first in The NFC South Division. Even though Cam’s number weren’t great against The Jaguars, he managed the game extremely well and didn’t’ commit one turnover during the duration of the game. The Panthers have a special magic going this year, and it’s great to see Cam lead this team out of the basement of The NFL. Some people thought that Cam Newton wouldn’t make it in this league, but he is making believers out of us all. The moment never seems too big for this former Auburn Star, and I think we can expect great things out of number 1 for years to come.
Next week on the blog, NFL Week 4 Review and My top ten Heisman List for the 2011 college football season.
Jets suffer first defeat
The NY Jets played their first away game of the season in Oakland and were on the losing side. The score finished 34-24, but it looks worse than it really was.
Mar Sanchez led the Jets to one final touchdown to cut the Oakland lead to 4, but since his knee was down during the play, the points were taken away. It was harsh for the Jets, but it was a just call, as there were no complaints from the side.
Oakland is now 2-1 as are the Jets and this victory proves that the Raiders may finally be able to compete this season. The Bills upset the Pats, and the Lions are 3-0. Those numbers are not false, it is the truth. However, this may be bad news for the Jets.
NY has made the AFC championship for the past 2 seasons and has lost in both. Making the Super Bowl is exactly what they desire and need. Mark Sanchez is leading a side with good talent, and the coach, Rex Ryan, is making sure his team does a good job. With that in mind, this season will be even tougher to repeat an appearance in the AFC title match-up.
Detroit is 3-0 for the first time in years. If their streak of luck or talent continues, they may actually make the play-offs. A team like that has a lot to prove, even if their success is the result of lady luck. The Jets have way more than luck in their possession.
Rex Ryan, Mark Sanchez, Darrel Revis, and Santonio Holmes are all the people in charge of leading this team yet again for this season. A 2-1 start isn’t too bad, but we all know it could be better. Losing to the Raiders is simply unacceptable for a team of this caliber. This week, they will look to bounce back in Baltimore against the Ravens, who won 37-7 in St. Louis. They will be very tough to beat, but it can be done.
Enjoy the game and have a great week everyone. Look forward to your Jets playing a better game.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
NFL Week 2 Review/Jets win again!!
NFL Week 2 Review
Week two in the NFL was exciting and exposes the strength and weaknesses of various teams around the league. The defending Super bowl champs received an unexpected battle from The Carolina Panthers and their rising star Cam Newton. Even though Cam threw three costly interceptions, I was very impressed with his ability to throw accurate passes through small windows. The Green Bay Packers have to address their defensive issues because The Detroit Lions have a lot of NFL fans believing in them taking over The NFC North division. Nick Collins is out for the year for the Packers, and it will be interesting to see who will replace him at the safety position. The surprising Lions have dominated opponents this year scoring 40 plus points in both games. I can’t wait unit the Packers and The Lions due battle this year.
The NFC South looks like the best division in football because all four quarterbacks within that division have special winning characteristics about them. The
Saints Drew Brees dissected a good defense in the Chicago Bears last Sunday by throwing for 270 yards and two touchdowns. Matt Ryan engineered a great comeback last Sunday at home in Atlanta, and proved that he can make the fans of Atlanta forget about their former marriage with Eagles quarterback Michael Vick. I was very impressed with Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman because he always gives his Buccaneers a chance to win. Josh Freeman led his team to a win at Minnesota while battling a deficit for almost the entire duration of the game. I think that Minnesota should give Christian Ponder a chance at quarterback because it’s starting to look as a lost season for the men in purple.
I have to give credit to Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys. I have always been very critical of Tony Romo, but he transformed my opinion on Sunday. Tony Romo was badly injured during the game against historic foe The San Francisco 49ers. Tony Romo came back into the game and constructed a great comeback after being down by ten in the fourth quarter at Candle Stick Stadium. The world was able to see how important it was to Romo to not start the season 0-2, and his teammate rallied behind him to win their first game of the year. Next week, The Cowboys will face a surprising 2-0 Washington Redskins at home. Also in week 3, two 2-0 teams will due battle in Buffalo, NY as The New England Patriots battle The Buffalo Bills in an highly anticipated matchup. New England should remember that nobody and I mean nobody “Circle the Wagons like the Buffalo Bills”.
Jets win again while Eagles stumble
The NY Jets defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 32-3 in a dominant performance, even with Sanchez performing less than average. He is a solid quarter-back who had a good first two years, but this year he has not been too impressive, thus far.
The Jaguars scored a 3 point field goal, while the Jets scored a whopping 32 total in front of a loud, passionate home crowd. Darrel Revis once again proved to be heroic on defense, making a countless number of stops on the offensive players on the Jags. Sanchez did have one decent touchdown pass to Dustin Keller who cheekily caught the ball and entered the Jaguar end zone for one of the Jets touch downs.
The Jets have a solid squad but are missing one thing, consistency from their quarter-back. He was supposed to be this unbelievably amazing quarterback since the first time he stepped out onto the gridiron. Even though the Jets finished the last couple of seasons in the AFC Championship, we expect more of Sanchez and his green and white warriors.
The defense is great, the offense is decent, and the coach is brilliant. The missing link is, yes, you guessed it, the offense. Once Sanchez starts to play up to his potential, the Jets will begin to dominate their opponents convincingly. Winning 32-3 against the Jaguars isn’t that bad, but they could have honestly won by a larger margin if Sanchez stepped up quite a bit more.
Jets fans, stay tuned for an exciting season as the 2-0 Jets will look to continue their winning streak throughout. However, even with a few slip ups here and there, the Jets will make the play-offs guaranteed with Rex paving the way.
This week, the Jets travel to Oakland to take on the Raiders who could have easily been 2-0 if they did not let the Bills come back and defeat them towards the end 38-35. The Jets will look to extend to a 3-0 season and in order to do so, the defense needs to be clutch and Sanchez needs to have the performance of his young season. Enjoy folks.
Week two in the NFL was exciting and exposes the strength and weaknesses of various teams around the league. The defending Super bowl champs received an unexpected battle from The Carolina Panthers and their rising star Cam Newton. Even though Cam threw three costly interceptions, I was very impressed with his ability to throw accurate passes through small windows. The Green Bay Packers have to address their defensive issues because The Detroit Lions have a lot of NFL fans believing in them taking over The NFC North division. Nick Collins is out for the year for the Packers, and it will be interesting to see who will replace him at the safety position. The surprising Lions have dominated opponents this year scoring 40 plus points in both games. I can’t wait unit the Packers and The Lions due battle this year.
The NFC South looks like the best division in football because all four quarterbacks within that division have special winning characteristics about them. The
Saints Drew Brees dissected a good defense in the Chicago Bears last Sunday by throwing for 270 yards and two touchdowns. Matt Ryan engineered a great comeback last Sunday at home in Atlanta, and proved that he can make the fans of Atlanta forget about their former marriage with Eagles quarterback Michael Vick. I was very impressed with Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman because he always gives his Buccaneers a chance to win. Josh Freeman led his team to a win at Minnesota while battling a deficit for almost the entire duration of the game. I think that Minnesota should give Christian Ponder a chance at quarterback because it’s starting to look as a lost season for the men in purple.
I have to give credit to Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys. I have always been very critical of Tony Romo, but he transformed my opinion on Sunday. Tony Romo was badly injured during the game against historic foe The San Francisco 49ers. Tony Romo came back into the game and constructed a great comeback after being down by ten in the fourth quarter at Candle Stick Stadium. The world was able to see how important it was to Romo to not start the season 0-2, and his teammate rallied behind him to win their first game of the year. Next week, The Cowboys will face a surprising 2-0 Washington Redskins at home. Also in week 3, two 2-0 teams will due battle in Buffalo, NY as The New England Patriots battle The Buffalo Bills in an highly anticipated matchup. New England should remember that nobody and I mean nobody “Circle the Wagons like the Buffalo Bills”.
Jets win again while Eagles stumble
The NY Jets defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 32-3 in a dominant performance, even with Sanchez performing less than average. He is a solid quarter-back who had a good first two years, but this year he has not been too impressive, thus far.
The Jaguars scored a 3 point field goal, while the Jets scored a whopping 32 total in front of a loud, passionate home crowd. Darrel Revis once again proved to be heroic on defense, making a countless number of stops on the offensive players on the Jags. Sanchez did have one decent touchdown pass to Dustin Keller who cheekily caught the ball and entered the Jaguar end zone for one of the Jets touch downs.
The Jets have a solid squad but are missing one thing, consistency from their quarter-back. He was supposed to be this unbelievably amazing quarterback since the first time he stepped out onto the gridiron. Even though the Jets finished the last couple of seasons in the AFC Championship, we expect more of Sanchez and his green and white warriors.
The defense is great, the offense is decent, and the coach is brilliant. The missing link is, yes, you guessed it, the offense. Once Sanchez starts to play up to his potential, the Jets will begin to dominate their opponents convincingly. Winning 32-3 against the Jaguars isn’t that bad, but they could have honestly won by a larger margin if Sanchez stepped up quite a bit more.
Jets fans, stay tuned for an exciting season as the 2-0 Jets will look to continue their winning streak throughout. However, even with a few slip ups here and there, the Jets will make the play-offs guaranteed with Rex paving the way.
This week, the Jets travel to Oakland to take on the Raiders who could have easily been 2-0 if they did not let the Bills come back and defeat them towards the end 38-35. The Jets will look to extend to a 3-0 season and in order to do so, the defense needs to be clutch and Sanchez needs to have the performance of his young season. Enjoy folks.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
NY Jets don’t let NYC down in heroic victory/NFL Week 1 Review
The NY Jets opened the 2011-2012 NFL regular season by hosting the Dallas Cowboys. They were certainly expected to win but what they didn’t expect was Dallas to be up by 14 points in the 4th quarter. This was a problem, until the Jets decided to step it up a notch.
Plaxico Burress scored his first touchdown as a New York Jet when Sanchez perfectly through the ball towards the left side of the end zone which then was caught by Burress as he spun then was brought down, but the ball clearly did enter the end zone. The score was 24-17 Dallas after the Jets added the one point field goal.
McKnight, who was clearly the hidden hero of the night, somehow blocked the 4th down punt of Dallas and the ball was then picked up by Isaiah Trufont, who ran it home for the touchdown. Nick Folk added the one point field goal to tie the game. Then, the perfect ending to the already unbelievable game occurred.
Nick Folk stepped up to take what could potentially be the game winning field goal for the Jets with just over a minute remaining, and it was 50 yards away.
The Jets number stepped up, and placed the ball in between the two gigantic yellow poles to give the Jets the 27-24 victory, capping a miracle comeback on a day where NY required that type of victory.
Ten years ago of that day, was September 11, 2001, which was the day the Twin Towers were attacked, and many lives we lost. It was a tragic day and ten years later, all of New York remembered their loved ones.
The NY Jets were asked to play their season opener on this historic ten year anniversary of September 11. They were down 14 in the 4th, and Dallas never lost a game while being up by 14 plus points throughout their history, ever. In fact, their record was 246-0-1 in that situation. However, at the end of the night, their record became 246-1-1 on a day where victory was a must for the home side.
Dallas played a very decent defensive as well as offensive game. Even though they were in an upbeat situation, up 14 in the 4th which is a situation they never dropped a game before, their opponents had the entire state of New York and most of America cheering them on.
The players were being pumped up by the crowd, their coaches, and the beautiful scenery around the stadium. They simply couldn’t allow Dallas to stay undefeated in that situation, especially on the ten year anniversary of 9-11. The Jets fixed their mistakes late in the 4th and won the game. It was truly a fairy tale, cardiac kid comeback.
It is a game that will never, ever be forgotten by either team. Both the Jets and Cowboys played their part in a historic game on a historic day. If this is just a taste of what’s to come this season, then everyone better buckle up and enjoy the adrenaline rushing ride.
The NFL season has started off with a huge blast. Various Teams that we thought were championship contenders, turned out to be pretenders. The most impressive team to me was the defending Super Bowl champs The Green Bay Packers. The Green Bay Packers offense looked scary, and the defense looks like it may be the most opportunistic defense in the entire NFL. The Baltimore Ravens ran right through their biggest rivals The Pittsburg Steelers. A lot of people are making a huge deal about the age of the players on the Steelers defense, but it was only one game and I expect the boys from Pittsburg to have a great season. I was very disappointed in The Kansas City Chiefs and they lackluster play during their game against The Buffalo Bills. The Chiefs on both sides of the ball looked uninterested, and confused. The Chiefs gave up 42 points to a team that hasn’t made any noise in the AFC since I was ten. The Buffalo Bills may not make the playoff this year, but they have the folks in upstate New York highly excited.
Carolina Panthers starting quarterback Cameron Newton threw for over 400 yards against The Arizona Cardinals. Cam Newton broke legendary quarterback Peyton Manning record of most passing yards by a rookie on opening day. Cam Newton has the Carolina faithful happy because he has won over his teammates and the city with his impressive play this past Sunday. Tom Brady had a brilliant game last night against the sorry Miami Dolphins. Tom Brady racked up over 500 yards passing which is a Monday Night Football record. I was very impressed by The Oakland Raiders last night against The Denver Broncos because The Raiders are slowly starting to change the culture of their football team. Denver Broncos please don’t start Tim Tebow because he is not ready. The Broncos coaching staff should construct special packages where Tim Tebow can help the offense with his special play making ability.
The New York Jets were able to start the season off with a win against The Dallas Cowboys. Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback Tony Romo has failed the Cowboys once again, by not using proper judgment during crucial parts of the game. A lot of the media praises Tony Romo all the time, but he doesn’t deserve the praise. In six years as a Cowboy starter, Tony Romo has only won one playoff game, and has set back the Cowboy franchise for years to come.
Plaxico Burress scored his first touchdown as a New York Jet when Sanchez perfectly through the ball towards the left side of the end zone which then was caught by Burress as he spun then was brought down, but the ball clearly did enter the end zone. The score was 24-17 Dallas after the Jets added the one point field goal.
McKnight, who was clearly the hidden hero of the night, somehow blocked the 4th down punt of Dallas and the ball was then picked up by Isaiah Trufont, who ran it home for the touchdown. Nick Folk added the one point field goal to tie the game. Then, the perfect ending to the already unbelievable game occurred.
Nick Folk stepped up to take what could potentially be the game winning field goal for the Jets with just over a minute remaining, and it was 50 yards away.
The Jets number stepped up, and placed the ball in between the two gigantic yellow poles to give the Jets the 27-24 victory, capping a miracle comeback on a day where NY required that type of victory.
Ten years ago of that day, was September 11, 2001, which was the day the Twin Towers were attacked, and many lives we lost. It was a tragic day and ten years later, all of New York remembered their loved ones.
The NY Jets were asked to play their season opener on this historic ten year anniversary of September 11. They were down 14 in the 4th, and Dallas never lost a game while being up by 14 plus points throughout their history, ever. In fact, their record was 246-0-1 in that situation. However, at the end of the night, their record became 246-1-1 on a day where victory was a must for the home side.
Dallas played a very decent defensive as well as offensive game. Even though they were in an upbeat situation, up 14 in the 4th which is a situation they never dropped a game before, their opponents had the entire state of New York and most of America cheering them on.
The players were being pumped up by the crowd, their coaches, and the beautiful scenery around the stadium. They simply couldn’t allow Dallas to stay undefeated in that situation, especially on the ten year anniversary of 9-11. The Jets fixed their mistakes late in the 4th and won the game. It was truly a fairy tale, cardiac kid comeback.
It is a game that will never, ever be forgotten by either team. Both the Jets and Cowboys played their part in a historic game on a historic day. If this is just a taste of what’s to come this season, then everyone better buckle up and enjoy the adrenaline rushing ride.
The NFL season has started off with a huge blast. Various Teams that we thought were championship contenders, turned out to be pretenders. The most impressive team to me was the defending Super Bowl champs The Green Bay Packers. The Green Bay Packers offense looked scary, and the defense looks like it may be the most opportunistic defense in the entire NFL. The Baltimore Ravens ran right through their biggest rivals The Pittsburg Steelers. A lot of people are making a huge deal about the age of the players on the Steelers defense, but it was only one game and I expect the boys from Pittsburg to have a great season. I was very disappointed in The Kansas City Chiefs and they lackluster play during their game against The Buffalo Bills. The Chiefs on both sides of the ball looked uninterested, and confused. The Chiefs gave up 42 points to a team that hasn’t made any noise in the AFC since I was ten. The Buffalo Bills may not make the playoff this year, but they have the folks in upstate New York highly excited.
Carolina Panthers starting quarterback Cameron Newton threw for over 400 yards against The Arizona Cardinals. Cam Newton broke legendary quarterback Peyton Manning record of most passing yards by a rookie on opening day. Cam Newton has the Carolina faithful happy because he has won over his teammates and the city with his impressive play this past Sunday. Tom Brady had a brilliant game last night against the sorry Miami Dolphins. Tom Brady racked up over 500 yards passing which is a Monday Night Football record. I was very impressed by The Oakland Raiders last night against The Denver Broncos because The Raiders are slowly starting to change the culture of their football team. Denver Broncos please don’t start Tim Tebow because he is not ready. The Broncos coaching staff should construct special packages where Tim Tebow can help the offense with his special play making ability.
The New York Jets were able to start the season off with a win against The Dallas Cowboys. Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback Tony Romo has failed the Cowboys once again, by not using proper judgment during crucial parts of the game. A lot of the media praises Tony Romo all the time, but he doesn’t deserve the praise. In six years as a Cowboy starter, Tony Romo has only won one playoff game, and has set back the Cowboy franchise for years to come.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Football in the US and Basketball in Europe?
SEC Proves Once Again They Are the Standard Conference in College Football.
Last Saturday, The South Eastern Conference proved that no other conference in America can compete against them. The Louisiana State University Tigers dominated former BCS contender Oregon. As I was watching the game, I witnessed first hand the power of The South Eastern Conference. Even though I love the LSU Tigers, I watched the heavyweight match between these two collegiate powers on a neutral base. The Oregon Ducks offense seemed lost because of the speed and talent on the LSU defense. The Tigers had fifth year senior Jarrett Lee starting behind center, and he did an overall medium job at quarterback. The Tigers ran the ball, and dominated on defense during the entire duration of the game.
There had been several teams outside of The SEC that fail to realize that they can’t compete with the boys from the south. The SEC has been transformed into The New York Yankees of college football because they have dominated the landscape of college football for about five years. Team after team has fallen to the feat of this impressive football collegiate conference. I have fallen in love with this conference through the years because of my first observation of great SEC football games on the CBS network. All college football fans might as well face and realized that college football is currently controlled by the boys of the south. I don’t care how much people claim about the wonderful football played outside the south because no other conference can compete with The SEC. During the college football, we will see the impact that The SEC has on the entire foundation of The Bowl Championship Series. In order to get to The BCS championship, you have to go through the super bowl of the south which is The SEC Championship in Atlanta, Georgia.
Hey everyone, there is huge game in Miami, Florida next Monday at 7:00pm on ESPN. My Miami Dolphins will shock the world by defeating the overrated New England Patriots during our home opener at Sun Life Stadium.
Turkey upset Spain at EURO Basket 2011
Undefeated Spain played against 2-2 Turkey in a game where the Turks had to win in order to advance out of the group stage of EURO Basket 2011.
The Turks started out brightly with two convincing victories over Portugal and Great Britain respectively, but lost to hosts Lithuania and then Poland.
Turkey had a little bit of assistance from Great Britain who defeated Poland earlier and this finished half the job Turkey had. The second half was arguably tougher as they had the tough task of defeating undefeated Spain.
Spain were without one of their top players in Pau Gasol but the Spaniards still boasted a bunch of talent with Rubio, Calderon, Fernandez, Serge Ibaka, and the younger Gasol brother, Marc.
Spain entered the 4th quarter up 55-49 and after opening the scoring in this final period with a 2 pointer, little did they know that Turkey had a lot of fight in them.
Turkey was down 8 with most of the 4th remaining. With heroics from Hidayet Turkoglu, Omer Onan, and Ender Arslan, Turkey built a tremendous comeback in which they outscored their opponents 16-2 with the Spanish scoring their 2 points before Turkey’s 16.
It was simply remarkable and with this Turkey proved to the world that once again they are the cardiac kids. They did it on 3-4 different occasions in EURO 2008 in soccer and repeated that praise-worthy comeback this time in basketball.
Turkey will end up playing either France or Serbia in the next round and either test will be very difficult.
Last year against France in the World Cup, Turkey won against a depleted French side who were without Tony Parker. This year will be a different story as he will be taking part in the game if they are to face off.
Turkey defeated Serbia in a game where the referee was accused of making a game-costing mistake which led the Serbians to exit out of the tournament in the semi-finals. Turkey would end up losing to the United States in the final.
Turkey will look to come out strong and will need the assistance of Turkoglu, Arslan, Onan, Preldzic, and of course NBA new boy, Enes Kanter. The squad is full of talent and will need to play one of their best games to defeat one of the two tough nations they can possibly meet.
For those who are huge NBA fans and are upset about the lockout, go online and tune into the action as most of the NBA’s foreign stars are taking part in this tournament. It is exciting, competitive, and full of drama.
NateReySports fans, hopefully you are enjoying our weekly articles as we are absolutely honored to be writing for you. If there are any questions or concerns, comment below or e-mail us at natereysports@gmail.com. Until next week readers, enjoy the world of sports, you know we do.
Last Saturday, The South Eastern Conference proved that no other conference in America can compete against them. The Louisiana State University Tigers dominated former BCS contender Oregon. As I was watching the game, I witnessed first hand the power of The South Eastern Conference. Even though I love the LSU Tigers, I watched the heavyweight match between these two collegiate powers on a neutral base. The Oregon Ducks offense seemed lost because of the speed and talent on the LSU defense. The Tigers had fifth year senior Jarrett Lee starting behind center, and he did an overall medium job at quarterback. The Tigers ran the ball, and dominated on defense during the entire duration of the game.
There had been several teams outside of The SEC that fail to realize that they can’t compete with the boys from the south. The SEC has been transformed into The New York Yankees of college football because they have dominated the landscape of college football for about five years. Team after team has fallen to the feat of this impressive football collegiate conference. I have fallen in love with this conference through the years because of my first observation of great SEC football games on the CBS network. All college football fans might as well face and realized that college football is currently controlled by the boys of the south. I don’t care how much people claim about the wonderful football played outside the south because no other conference can compete with The SEC. During the college football, we will see the impact that The SEC has on the entire foundation of The Bowl Championship Series. In order to get to The BCS championship, you have to go through the super bowl of the south which is The SEC Championship in Atlanta, Georgia.
Hey everyone, there is huge game in Miami, Florida next Monday at 7:00pm on ESPN. My Miami Dolphins will shock the world by defeating the overrated New England Patriots during our home opener at Sun Life Stadium.
Turkey upset Spain at EURO Basket 2011
Undefeated Spain played against 2-2 Turkey in a game where the Turks had to win in order to advance out of the group stage of EURO Basket 2011.
The Turks started out brightly with two convincing victories over Portugal and Great Britain respectively, but lost to hosts Lithuania and then Poland.
Turkey had a little bit of assistance from Great Britain who defeated Poland earlier and this finished half the job Turkey had. The second half was arguably tougher as they had the tough task of defeating undefeated Spain.
Spain were without one of their top players in Pau Gasol but the Spaniards still boasted a bunch of talent with Rubio, Calderon, Fernandez, Serge Ibaka, and the younger Gasol brother, Marc.
Spain entered the 4th quarter up 55-49 and after opening the scoring in this final period with a 2 pointer, little did they know that Turkey had a lot of fight in them.
Turkey was down 8 with most of the 4th remaining. With heroics from Hidayet Turkoglu, Omer Onan, and Ender Arslan, Turkey built a tremendous comeback in which they outscored their opponents 16-2 with the Spanish scoring their 2 points before Turkey’s 16.
It was simply remarkable and with this Turkey proved to the world that once again they are the cardiac kids. They did it on 3-4 different occasions in EURO 2008 in soccer and repeated that praise-worthy comeback this time in basketball.
Turkey will end up playing either France or Serbia in the next round and either test will be very difficult.
Last year against France in the World Cup, Turkey won against a depleted French side who were without Tony Parker. This year will be a different story as he will be taking part in the game if they are to face off.
Turkey defeated Serbia in a game where the referee was accused of making a game-costing mistake which led the Serbians to exit out of the tournament in the semi-finals. Turkey would end up losing to the United States in the final.
Turkey will look to come out strong and will need the assistance of Turkoglu, Arslan, Onan, Preldzic, and of course NBA new boy, Enes Kanter. The squad is full of talent and will need to play one of their best games to defeat one of the two tough nations they can possibly meet.
For those who are huge NBA fans and are upset about the lockout, go online and tune into the action as most of the NBA’s foreign stars are taking part in this tournament. It is exciting, competitive, and full of drama.
NateReySports fans, hopefully you are enjoying our weekly articles as we are absolutely honored to be writing for you. If there are any questions or concerns, comment below or e-mail us at natereysports@gmail.com. Until next week readers, enjoy the world of sports, you know we do.
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