Husky in dogs, Turkey in the country. The Ottoman Empire, whose predecessor once dominated Eurasia, can only become a political stalk in the country's population, but the skinny camel is still bigger than the horse, and Turkey's sports are still outstanding, the third place in the 2002 Football World Cup, the runner-up in the 2010 Basketball World Championship, which is an honor that the mainland has not yet been able to reach. But when it comes to well-known Turkish athletes, domestic fans are not familiar with much, except for the magic engine of the past, the white magician Tkoglu and the evergreen Ilyasova, there is only one time-out center Memito Ocku who likes to shoot three-pointers in the hand-to-hand era and makes the former Rockets fans hate to grit their teeth.
- Young to fame
Memit oak, the old rival who once let Yao Mingmeng break the playoffs, the two have similar growth experiences. The same young fame, the same age is invincible, the same teenager will win glory for the country and become the pride of the people.
At 211 cm tall, Oku has had an impressive height advantage since childhood, and his parents have been very supportive of their children's sports, and finally Oku chose basketball. Oku has an unusually soft feel, coupled with his excellent height, his outside shots are difficult to cover, coupled with the fact that the big man training in Europe at that time generally attaches importance to shooting (Sabonis, Big Z, Nowitzki, etc.), so Oku has firmly established his advantage, worked long-range shots, and became a big center who frequently shoots outside the three-point line (the international three-point line is closer than the NBA).
His outstanding performances led Oku to become a professional at the age of 17, playing for EphesPilsen S.K. and TofasBursa, and helping both clubs win the Turkish League. However, what makes Oku most proud and what makes Oku get the attention of NBA scouts is the performance of the national team, first in 1997, Oku led the Turkish youth team to win the U22 World Basketball Championship, that year Yao Ming also represented China in U22, but unlike Oku's glory, the loss to the South Korean team in that tournament became a shame that Yao would hang on his lips tomorrow. Then in 1998, Oku led his teammates to win the U22 European Championship, and the Turkish media could not help but marvel at the birth of the golden generation belonging to the Turkish men's basketball team. At the 2001 European Championships held on home, Oku and Tkoglu teamed up to lead Turkey to the final, but encountered the former Yugoslav national team that had not yet disintegrated, and finally regrettably lost, but also created the best record in turkey's European Championships.
Oku's excellent performance in the international arena made the NBA scouts step up the pace of observation, and finally his game video was sent to Dumas, who was the general manager of the Pistons at the time, although Oku's playing style was more outside, but unlike Nowitzki's complete outside, Okur's body was strong enough to do a good job of low defense, and it just so happened that the Pistons needed an interior player with diverse offensive means and a good defensive attitude, and finally the Pistons selected Oku with the ninth overall pick in the second round of the 2001 draft.
But Oku did not rush into the NBA, but fulfilled his contract and led the team to win the domestic league championship before choosing to join the Pistons.
2. Tough Guy of the Iron Army
Rookie Oku in the 02-03 season was lucky, he met Carlisle who was willing to give newcomers a chance (yes, I just wanted to taunt Larry Brown a year later), and 9 starts in 72 games, when the Pistons had gradually returned to the ranks of the strong team under the leadership of Billups and Ben Wallace, and being able to get a start proved Oku's efforts in a foreign land. Carlisle did not follow the trend of the interior line at that time to abolish Oku's long-range shooting skills, but followed the example of old Nelson, and actively used Oku's three-point ability to enrich the team's tactics, especially in the case of Daben's limited offensive means, Carlisle would often arrange for two to play at the same time, which also paved the way for the future after the arrival of Roar Tianzun. By the playoffs, Oku's stats had slipped but he shot a 53.8 percent horror shooting percentage from three points, which was limited by the number of shots and playing time, and did not have much impact on the team. It was only in the first round of the playoffs this year that the NBA changed the first round of five-game system to a seven-game system for the first time, which also made the Pistons not be dropped by the "black eight" in the first round - it was Maddy's best years, and the white clothes were the youth of many fans. With 43 points in the first game of the series, 5 minutes and 35 seconds in the second quarter, Maddy took a step beyond the three-point line to directly attack the defensive inside, and Oku did not hesitate to assist in the defense but achieved the classic playoffs. Maddy's two consecutive 40+ games and an average of 31.7 points per game surprised the Pistons into a cold sweat, but under the reversed effect of Rivers (it was him, it was him), the Pistons had no danger, but Maddy's debt to Oku needed to be repaid more cruelly in the future.
The first playoff of Oku's career played in the Eastern Conference Finals, which was fortunate for Okur, the Pistons began a six-year trip without missing the East Finals, and Okur also won the team's recognition for his performance, although the new head coach Larry Brown did not like the inside line willing to shoot far, but Oku's mid-range and slow three-step layup with tough defense, all met the needs of the Pistons' inner line, and finally Larry Brown made Oku the team's starting big forward (Big Ben and he are each other's center forwards, there is no excessive clarity). Oku was given 33 starts, and he also took advantage of the hard-won opportunity, averaging double digits in the second season, but the Pistons received strong reinforcements in the middle of the season - Rashid Wallace, a player who was more in line with the Pistons' system and style, and Oku was back on the bench. However, compared to rookie Milisic, Oku is still much happier, he is still an important interior roller skate for the Pistons, although the late statistics have declined slightly, but the second season averaged 9.6 points and 5.9 rebounds under 22.3 minutes per game, Oku is excellent.
In the playoffs, the Pistons destroyed all the way, and finally counterattacked the F4 Lakers to win the championship, creating a good story in the NBA, but the combination of the double Wallace's penalty area in the playoffs was too good, AndOku's playing time was sharply reduced, and he did not get more performance opportunities, but he became the first Turk to win the NBA championship, which also made him the glory of his hometown.
3. Glory of Salt Lake City
After winning the championship in Motor City, the Pistons tended to keep Oku, but due to the amount of salary, the Pistons were unable to keep him on a large contract and could only let him go to the free market to find a new owner. At this time, the rebuilding Jazz took a fancy to Oku, and finally the Jazz took Oku to Salt Lake City with a 6-year, 50 million contract, along with Carlos Buszier, and the inside combination will become the cornerstone of the Jazz's revival.
In the first year of coming to the Jazz, Okur did not immediately get reused to become a stable starter, only 25 starts in 82 games of the season, Okur in that era of the box as the king, the problem of general confrontation and lack of internal lethality made Sloan dare not reuse Okoo, and the proud three-point long-range shooting was not frequently used, and the three-point shooting rate was also the lowest 27% of his career, the only time it did not exceed 30%. However, Oku's serious attitude is directed at the temper of the old coach Sloan, and the old man begins to consider how to play to Oku's strengths.
In the 2005-06 season, Sloan began to design blocking tactics for the characteristics of Oku, playing the role of Oku space, Oku began to regain the projection of his fame, the three-point shooting rate reached 34%, and the average data per game came to a career-high 18 points and 9.1 rebounds, but Kirilenko and Boozer's injuries made the Jazz finally lose in the final train battle of the playoffs.
In the 2006-07 season, the health of Kirilenko and Boozer and the maturity of Deron Williams allowed the Jazz to regain some of the glory of the salt lake city of the past, and the record also swept away the haze of the previous years and began to be at the top of the West. Oku's performance is also further this season, the all-star average data once reached the all-star level data of 19 + 8 per game, but in the all-star vote due to popularity reasons regrettably lost, but the heavens are kind to Oku, the 2007 All-Star is one of the most serious all-stars affected by injuries, Boozer, Yao Ming's absence due to injury gave Oku the opportunity, making Oku the first Turkish NBA All-Star.
Although a substitute All-Star, Okur deserves this honor, and before the All-Star Game, Oku broke out without warning, becoming the Jazz's leading scorer in five consecutive games, shooting 31 points on Duncan's head against the Spurs, and a career-high 38 points against the Wizards. We knew he was the best three-point shooter on the Jazz, but we didn't know he had such a long range, and he always hit the key shots one by one. Arenas, who is known for his projection accuracy, also admired Oku's shots. Although Oku's data declined in the second half of the season, Oku gave up a better chance to his teammates, allowing playoff recruits such as Boozell and Deron Williams to enter the playoffs early, and the Jazz were going to return to the playoffs.
4. Nightmare of Houston
The 2007 playoffs were Oku's return to the playoffs in three years and the Jazz's return to the playoffs in four years. This is a round of playoffs that has broken the hearts of countless domestic fans, this is the last time Yao Mai's healthy playoff journey, but the Jazz have shattered the dream of breaking through the first round. 15 years later looking back at the first round of the 2007 playoffs, most of the domestic fans were carried away by the media and fans at the time , the "small-scale" operation of the Rockets made the thickness of the team lineup very poor, in addition to Yao Mai, the two All-Stars of the playing year, the most handy is battier who just joined a season, Alstom, Hayes, Uncle Huo, Hyde and Uncle Mu who does not know how old they are, is the basic lineup rotation of the Rockets; and the Jazz in addition to Kirilenko, Okur, Boozell's three All-Stars of the year of playing, as well as Delong Williams and Millsap, two future All-Stars, plus Fisher, Haplin, Guirisek and other high-quality role players, the thickness of the lineup is much better than the Rockets, and even Brewer, who was later used to defend Kobe Bryant, did not get many opportunities to play at this time. Especially the veteran coach Sloan, who experienced the era of the four major centers in the 90s, has a wealth of experience in dealing with traditional interior lines such as Yao Ming, as for Maddy, Jordan will be forced out of the last shot, let alone Maddy?
The results of that year's playoffs made yao Ming now rumored that Yao Ming was blown up by Boozer and Oku, which can't help but make me, a fan who has watched all the series broadcast by Central Five, feel incomprehensible, and the theory of outcome can originally reduce a player to such a situation. In order to deal with Yao Ming, the most lethal center in the interior after O'Neal, Sloane took out the rigor and intensity of the original response to Olajuwon, and Oku became the first line of defense against Yao Ming, but the gap between height and confrontation made it difficult for Oku to resist Yao Ming, but due to the weakness of the front and back lines, Sloane arranged for Boozer, Kirilenko, and Delong to give up the defenders (Hayes, Uncle Huo, and Alstom were allowed to be released) for defense and bag clamps, which also allowed Yao Ming to receive the ball and dribble on the inside every time. Passing is "struggling". Defensive end Yao Ming also has to accept the baptism of blocking, because Hayes's figure is limited, Yao Ming defends Boozer, who is more willing to impact the inside line, Hayes is responsible for watching the Oku outside the defensive penalty area, so Yao Ming is bullied by Boozer using the speed advantage; coupled with Delong's speed and stature advantage, his breakthrough success rate is very high, and Yao Ming is needed to carry out a "squat pit" defense, which also completes the space advantage of Oku. Yao Ming was tortured by Sloan's elaborate offensive and defensive ends, and in seven games he could only deliver 44% of the shooting rate of the insiders who failed and an average of 4.7 turnovers and 3.9 fouls per game. But Yao Ming still averaged 25.1 points and 10.3 rebounds per game, while Oku was consumed by Yao Ming on the defensive end, averaging only 35.4% shooting and 11 points and 4 fouls per game, and Boozer's 24.6 points, 11 rebounds and 50% shooting rate should be blamed on the weakness of the Rockets' big forwards.
All the rumors stemmed from the final moments of the seventh, Yao Ming through the inside kill to get free throws to help the team extend the lead, but back to Boozell on Yao Ming to play 2+1, forcing Yao Ming, who had committed 5 fouls, to return to the court; this also led to Boozer grabbing key offensive rebounds and assisting Kirilenko to shoot the equalizing three-pointer, Boozell's request for Yao Ming had to return to the court, and Yao Ming also got 2+1 on Oku's head again. But Oku, who was all three-pointers out of the first three quarters, suddenly fired, opening up the point difference through three points, and the Rockets were still one point behind 1 minute and 39 seconds before the end of the game. After the timeout, Okur deflected three-pointers, but Boozer grabbed a key offensive rebound when Yao Ming tangled with Oku, and Oku did not waste a chance on the second three-pointer to help the Jazz gain the initiative. Yao Mingqiang successfully bit the score by playing the inside line, but the Rockets lost two consecutive backcourt rebounds at the critical moment, and could not send Boozer to the free throw line, and finally the trend was gone. Oku's lack of softness at key moments and Boozell's frontcourt rebounds at key moments have become evidence that Boozer and Oku have exploded Yao Ming, but the Rockets have no one to do a good job in interior defense except Yao Ming, and Yao Mai is only the rocket's only fig leaf.
That year's Jazz benefited from the Warriors' black eight, through the first round all the way to the Western Conference Finals, the semifinals in the Warriors' weak inside line, Oku found confidence again, averaging 51.7% per game to get 17.4 points and 10.4 rebounds; when the Western Conference finals faced the more dominant Duncan, Oku was more deeply educated than in the first round, averaging 7.2 points and 4.8 rebounds from 28.3% per game. This is also the biggest problem of Oku, and the strong inside line will become very "ordinary" in front of the Oku.
In the 2007-08 season, the Jazz and the Rockets had a narrow road, although the coach was replaced by a more flexible Adelman, and the big forward position also had Scola and Landry join, but unfortunately Yao Ming's season reimbursement, the Jazz once again eliminated the Rockets. Without the pressure of defending Yao Ming, Oku got a large double-double with 16 points and 16 rebounds in the first game, averaging 12.7 rebounds per game in the series, which was the highest in the career playoff series, and the Jazz became a nightmare in Space City, which could not be dissipated for a long time. Semifinals against the re-emerging Lakers, Oku is not afraid of Gasol, who is also a European interior lineman, with a slow three-step layup and three-point play with Gasol back and forth, averaging 17.7 points and 10.8 rebounds per game is not inferior to Gasol's 18.5 points and 8.3 rebounds, but the Lakers' new MVP Kobe Bryant got 33+7+7 data with 49% shooting rate, allowing the Jazz to start a tragic journey of being eliminated by the Lakers for three consecutive seasons.
5. Injuries are worse than tigers
In the 08-09 season, Boozer was injured and played only 37 games, and Oku became the backbone of the Jazz's interior line, and the statistics began to rise from last season. On January 13, 2009, after the team confirmed that Boozer would be absent for another year, Oku stabilized the team's record with a personal outburst. He scored 26 points at half-time against the Pacers and ended up scoring a career-high 43 points in just 28 minutes to lead the team to a winning streak. But the lack of an All-Star still caused the Jazz's record to decline, and it was only in the final moments that they squeezed into the playoffs and hit the Lakers again. Overworked to get the team into the playoffs, Oku missed the first three games of the series due to injury, and although the fourth emergency cameback, he was in no shape, and the Jazz were eventually eliminated in the first round.
In the 09-10 season, due to state reasons, Oku did not average more than 30 minutes per game for the first time since the Jazz became the starter, but still did not block the invasion of Oku by injury, and the first game against the Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs was torn apart, and the season was reimbursed, which made Millsap's growth path. The 30-year-old suffered a major Achilles tendon injury caused Oku's state to diving, only played in 13 games after the 10-11 season return, the stats are also the lowest 4.9 points and 2.3 rebounds in his career, and what is worse is the turmoil of the team, Boozer leaves, Deron Williams and the old coach Sloan tear his face quarrel led to the two leaving, the Jazz missed the playoffs again after five years, and the Jazz began to enter the rebuild.
After the summer shutdown in 2011, as the main center Brooklopez will be absent for a period of time due to injury, the Nets exchanged a second-round draft pick and a trade exception for Oku as a firefighter, but the old teammate Deron Williams failed to save Oku, who only played 17 times, and the Nets' record was also very bad, and finally the Nets used Oku's expired contract to exchange for Gerald Wallace for a big gamble. In this trade, the Nets also gave away Sean Williams and the draft pick protected by the first three picks in 2012 (this draft pick eventually allowed the Blazers to choose Lillard).
On November 8, 2013, according to the Turkish media "ntvspor", Oku officially announced his retirement, he no longer felt that he could still play in the NBA, and could only helplessly choose to end his basketball career. After retiring, Oku spent time with his family and wife, and in 2016 became an assistant coach of the Suns to develop interior players, but unfortunately he failed to cultivate two high-level rookies, Bender and Chris, and was eventually fired along with head coach Watson.
Okur, like Nowitzki, was the other side of the era, in an era when everyone felt that the inside line was king, they changed the course of the game with long-range shots from outside the three-point line, and they were the forerunners of the times. Whenever I see that a center who can't shoot three-pointers today can't be called a good center, I think of the Oku who slashed the Rockets' dreams outside the three-point line.