Getting fatigued by all of the free agency/trade chatter and endless streams of workout posts on social media? Yeah, it can be a bit much.
Good thing there is actual basketball being played around the world.
Qualification games for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 are taking place across the globe as teams battle it out to represent their country during the final tournament in China next year.
The Sixers are well represented on the FIBA front. The third window of first-round qualification tipped off on Thursday with several European-born Sixers taking the floor.
Guard Furkan Korkmaz had the biggest game of the day. The No. 26 pick from 2016 had a game-high 21 points as he and Cleveland Cavaliers swingman Cedi Osman rallied Turkey to an 80-66 win over Ukraine. Korkmaz shot 5 for 9 from the field, including 4 for 5 from three-point range. He added four boards in the victory.
"We were terrible to start the game, but in the second quarter we turned it around and we didn't have turnovers," Turkey coach Ufuk Sarica said, per FIBA.com. "We weren't great in the third, but we played our game again in the fourth. The NBA experience (for Osman and Korkmaz) has really helped them and they have gotten bigger and more confident."
Dario Saric is never one to lack confidence. Despite an off shooting performance for Saric (2 for 15 shooting), Croatia was able to scratch out a 78-72 win over Italy. The rugged forward still managed to post nine points and nine rebounds in the matchup.
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Saric wasn't the only player with Sixers ties to struggle. Anzejs Pasecniks, the 25th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft from Latvia, had a miserable game. Pasecniks went 0 for 1 from the field and 0 for 4 from the free throw line in 9:35 of playing time. Luckily for the center, Latvia still walked away with an 82-72 win over Sweden.
