For Turkish fans, Hedo Turkoglu’s still gold

ISTANBUL, TURKEY—From the 20-foot-high facing of an overpass bridging a six-lane highway on the southwestern edge of this massive city, his face beams down.

In and around the Sultanahmet area — the gorgeous, centuries-old home of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, the two most recognizable landmarks of this historic city — his face adorns billboards and buildings at almost every turn.

He is there in the port and around the arena, omnipresent.

And when you mention Hedo Turkoglu’s name around these parts, people perk up.

“Hedo? He is No. 1,” said 31-year-old Bora Nebioglu. “The best.”

There are tens of thousands of Raptors fans who may not agree with the assessment of Nebioglu, a hotel worker who says he’s an avid fan of the Turkish national basketball team. But that’s a rather parochial view of the 31-year-old Turkoglu, the one-year Raptors washout who seems to be the singular face of his national team at the world championship here.

Even though he had been playing so-so, averaging about 10 points in Turkey’s first-round games while shooting just 32 per cent from the field, there can be no denying his popularity.

“Everybody likes Hedo,” Nebioglu said before Turkey routed France 95-77 in the first playoff round Sunday night. “He was our first player in the NBA. He is the captain of our team. We are all very proud. Turkish people are very proud of him.”

And very familiar with what he’s done in his career. Nebioglu, who was quick to point out that fellow Turk Mehmet Okur has an NBA championship ring (won in 2005 with Detroit) while Turkoglu is still searching, knew immediately what Turkoglu’s year with the Raptors was like.

“He was very good in Orlando but he did not play well when he was in Toronto at all,” said the restaurant worker. “He will be better with Phoenix Suns, we are sure.”

No one here seems to be the least bit concerned by what went wrong in Toronto. They know he was a Raptor, isn’t one anymore, and just revel in his time with the national team.

“For us, he brings great pride,” said Nebioglu.

Basketball may play second fiddle to soccer in this country (“It is that way in all Europe. What can you do?” Nebioglu said with a shrug) but not for this two-week period. The 15,000-seat Sinan Erdem Dome was packed for the easy win over France and the hype is never-ending. There are huge pennants bearing the likenesses of the national team everywhere and Turkoglu is front and centre on all of them. He responded with one of his best games of the tournament, scoring a team-high 20 points and dishing out a team-best three assists.

“His impact on the team is unimaginable,” said Turkey’s Sinan Guler. “The way he played today (energizes) everybody else and the country, of course. When you hear his name being said on the announcements, everybody’s screaming louder than for anybody else.”

To many, it’s as if Turkoglu never set foot in Toronto. They love him for what he does for the Turkish program. They remember what he did the year before he spent with the Raptors.

“He’s probably the No. 1 sports guy in Turkey right now because of the way he played, especially with Orlando,” said Guler.

Turkoglu was not available to reporters after Turkey’s win, blowing off a group of about 100 by taking a back exit from the court. It certainly won’t damage his reputation here, much the same way people shrug off his year with the Raptors.

“I don’t know what happened in Toronto,” said Nebioglu. “He did not play well, but we don’t care about that much as long as he does well for Turkey. He is ours.”