EuroBasket 2017: Cedi Osman stuffs stat sheet in Turkey’s 84-70 win vs. Great Britain

If his performance on Friday was Cedi Osman’s breakout game, Saturday was a showcase of his well-rounded skillset.

In Turkey’s 84-70 win against Great Britain on Saturday in Istanbul, Osman did a little bit of everything. In a team-high 33 minutes, Osman scored 11 points, pulled down seven rebounds, dished out four assists, had two steals and blocked two shots.

Melih Mahmutoglu led Turkey with 24 points, while Semih Erden added 19. Gabe Olaseni and Andrew Lawrence co-lead Great Britain with 15 points each.

Turkey, who was coming off a loss to Russia, controlled most of this game. After three, Turkey lead by 10 and lead for most of the fourth. The Brits were able to pull within five with 6:04 left in the fourth. But Turkey blew the game open and scored five points in the final 31 seconds to win by 14.

While Osman wasn’t as dynamic or overwhelming as he was on Friday, his presence was still felt. On defense, he was still active and engaged wherever he was on the floor. In one moment in the second quarter, he helped off his man in transition and blocked an open shot near the rim.

He also did a good job of trailing his often smaller man from behind and crowding them as they tried to drive into the lane.

On offense, Osman was still solid, but wasn’t quite as on as he was against Russia. In particular, he struggled when driving to the lane against a Great Britain team lacking any real protection. His shot selection was also a little off, although at least two of his three-point attempts rimmed out. He also got to the line just four times after getting there 15 times on Friday.

Overall, Osman deferred far more than he did against Russia. He was always a bit over aggressive at different spots, including a needless foul at with 3:29 left in the fourth quarter with Great Britain still in the game.

But this is fine. A big part of Osman’s game is being aggressive. Mahmutoglu’s big night and more minutes for Baris Hersek also lessened the need for Osman to do what he did against Russia. And he was still very good.