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Sergio Andres: How much did it bother you personally when they called you soft in your first years in the NBA? Pau Gasol: I don't think it bothered me too much because I knew that if I were a soft player I wouldn't have made it to the NBA. If I had been soft, I wouldn't have been Rookie of the Year, All-Star… So, of course, it surprised me a little. Having gone through everything we did in the 2008 playoffs, for example, where we played against the Denver Nuggets, with Kenyon Martin, Marcus Camby, Nene, a physical and tough team; then we went through the Utah Jazz, where Mehmet Okur… And then there were the Spurs with Fabricio Oberto was there, Duncan was there, Kurt Thomas… Then, suddenly, well, it's true that the final was a physical final and maybe I wasn't up to par physically speaking, but from there to the issue of not... I don't know if I should call myself soft or point out my own shortcomings, right? At that moment, because of the defeat, it seemed a bit excessive. So, I knew, I was aware that I could be more physical, and I made an effort and a commitment for the following year, to even get a little stronger and dominate more, and so on.
Alperen Sengun outplayed Victor Wembanyama and set a new high-score for Turkish players in the NBA Tuesday night. Sengun scored 45 points on 19-for-32 shooting, grabbed 16 rebounds, made 5 steals, and dished out 3 assists on his way to a 114-101 win against the San Antonio Spurs. With this performance, he overtook Mehmet Okur to become the new Turkish highest scorer in the NBA.
"The whole country calling you," Turkoglu admitted. "The president is calling you, the prime minister is calling you. Pretty much you are the most talked guy. Because it didn't happen at that time. Mehmet Okur won the NBA in 2004, but there were five years from his time until mine. I was making an impact and playing games, so they [Turkish people] wanted me to be a part of every commercial. I swear to God, they wanted to put you on every commercial, any TV show, or any podcast. People just wanted to be around you," the 43-year-old said. "Thank God, I was married at that time (laughs). I would have been a crazy motherf***er, I'm telling you," he added amusingly.
Andy Larsen: Jazz announce Deron Williams, Memo Okur, and Truck Robinson will be at the Jazz game tomorrow vs. PHI, and they’ll be honored on court during the 2nd quarter. (All were former All-Stars, Jazz further promoting All-Star Weekend)
Carlos Boozer said there was no pressure replacing Karl Malone in Utah, because Andrei Kirilenko was already very good, he was joined in free agency by Mehmet Okur, and the team drafted Deron Williams a year later to form a talented core: “I had a blast here. I had a great time, man — this is one of the best teams I ever played on. We were like a family. Coach Sloan made sure of that, Larry Miller made sure of that. My kids would be running up and down the hallway, all our kids would be doing the same thing. We had a really unique team where everybody was an option.”
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Mehmet Okur, who lives in the USA and has been working in the technical team of the National Team for a while, answered the questions of the Anadolu Agency (AA) reporter. Stating that he is happy to share his experiences with national players, Okur said, “I think I will learn a lot from Orhun brother and his team in the A National Team. This is a very good environment and organization for me. Friends that I know and have played with for years are also here. I would like to add my experience from my job here to my basketball CV. "My goal and dream is to be a head coach in the NBA or a club in Europe . "
Koufos said how Okur treated him influences how he interacts with his younger teammates. Okur, Koufos said, would pull him aside with suggestions on how to improve. “He never made me an example,” Koufos said. “I was lucky to have good vets around me growing up. I’m a firm believer that it’s easy to teach young guys who are super talented. Never do something in front of everybody, just try to pull them to the side and reach out and say here’s something that can help you out.”
Former NBA champion (2004) and All Star (2007) Mehmet Okur reacted to New York Knicks center Enes Kanter saying that he considers himself “the best Turkish player to ever play the game.”
This is just funny 😂 pic.twitter.com/QKbqXOQn41
— mehmetokur13 (@MehmetOkur13) December 4, 2018
Okur said his best memory of playing for Utah was the entire 2006-07 season, during which he made the All-Star game with teammate Carlos Boozer. The Jazz also reached the Western Conference Finals, with star guard Deron Williams running the show, but lost to the Spurs 4-1 — San Antonio would go on to win the title — but Okur said he'll never forget those times. “In 2007, we made the Western Conference Finals. It was a good, good year for me individually and as a team,” Okur said. “As an individual, I made the All-Star team, I put up good numbers and we were winning.
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Jody Genessy: Former Jazz center Mehmet Okur will be a full-time assistant coach — shooting coach/player development — with the Phoenix Suns this year.