Utah Jazz notebook: Players could meet next summer at FIBA World Championships

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Turkey will face Russia in pool play at next summer's FIBA World Championships, but Jazz center Mehmet Okur isn't sure he'll be there to face off against Utah teammate Andrei Kirilenko.

"I don't know," said Okur, 30, who hasn't played for his Turkish national team since 2007. "Maybe they're not gonna invite, maybe they're gonna invite me. I've got to find out.

"I would love to play. But, they've been playing with the young kids the last couple years. Maybe I'm too old for them. So, who knows what's gonna happen?" Okur has had issues with how he's been used in the past, and he said a meeting with the president of his national federation should determine whether he'll play when Turkey hosts the 24-country tourney.

"Last year in my Web site I wanted to write it down about how I felt about national team. Because the season is kind of tough for me," he said.

"They wanted me to play classic 5 (center), bang inside. That's not my basketball. I told them. So, everybody got mad about that — because they thought I was saying something wrong.

"I just wanted to say system's not really helping me out there," he added. "My basketball is getting worse and worse when I play classic No. 5. So I just wanted to let them know how I felt. Everybody took it the wrong way, (that) I don't play, blah, blah, blah."

The uncertainty didn't keep Okur from friendly banter with Kirilenko, though.

"Hey, good luck," he told Kirilenko.

Kirilenko will play after skipping international play last summer while adopting a daughter.

"I just couldn't be committed to staying with the team," he said.

Now, though, he'll be focused on the tourney.

"I think we have a pretty good group, pretty equal teams," Kirilenko said.

Said Okur of the pool: "It's gonna be either us, Greece, or Russia — but Greece has always been a tough team."

Jazz reserve center Kosta Koufos, who was inactive for a second straight Wednesday, plays for Greece.

According to a draw announced Tuesday, the United States, meanwhile, opens Aug. 28 against Croatia in a pool that also includes Brazil, Slovenia, and Tunisia.

"Tough bracket. Some good teams in there," said Jazz point guard Deron Williams, who is committed to playing. "You have to look at every team as dangerous, because they all want to play U.S."