(Overdue) Diary: Day 5 from Izmir

Aside from seeing the Tall Blacks qualify for the knockout rounds, having New Zealand land in one of the groups featuring three European teams at the FIBA World Championship has been the best part of the week in Izmir.

While crowds for some games - especially those involving the Tall Blacks and Canada - have seemed small in the 10,000-set Halkapinar Arena, the noise-level and passion from the stands has been anything but small.

The green-and-gold of the Leituva (Lithuana) fans has dominated the arena (and the bars along the waterfront each night), followed close behind by the Cedars (Lebanon), the Espana (Spain) fans and the small group of loyal Tall Blacks supporters.

Halkapinar Arena has felt like the Lithuanians home court at times, with their chanting and encouragement taking over the stadium like Kirk Penney takes over games. The unwritten 'no cheering in the press section' rule is definitely not in play in Lithuania and their media were as emotional as the paying fans during the stunning fourth-quarter rally to beat Spain on Tuesday night.

As Lithuania came from 18 points down in the third quarter to hand Spain their second loss of the tournament, the decibel level rose to a level I've never experienced at a sporting event, especially as the likes of Marc Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro stepped to the free-throw down the stretch.

With the most numbers in Izmir, the Lithuanians are well organised, taking over the lower seats in the upper level behind one of the baskets. They're equipped with drums, giant national flags and an extensive playbook of chants and songs. They know exactly when their team needs to lift, when they need to raise the decibels to disrupt the opponent and when they need to get on the officials. They hang on every possession, every pass, every basket and gesticulate wildly whenever they feel cheated.

Really, it's everything I wish for basketball games in New Zealand in the were.

The New Zealand fans, led by the 'Rabid Wekas' group, have been out-numbered in the seats in most games but have had a positive impact in the energy levels of the Tall Blacks during games. The 'haka dance', as the local volunteers refer to it, from the Wekas is always well-recieved, while their other highlight moments have included the hilarious off-key versions of 'God Defend New Zealand', taunting Canada with chants of 'U-S-A U-S-A' and former coach Tab Baldwin with 'take a knee Tab, take a knee'.

The plan to post a diary entry every day from Izmir got side-tracked by other topics on this blog, and I totally blame Efes Pilsen and the need for at least five hours sleep a night for that. Since I last checked in on Day 2, the media had a day trip to the Ephesus ruins and taking in some other Turkish traditions, I had an emotional reunion with my missing luggage after four days and my Turkish vocabulary has expanded exponentially, thanks to volunteers Gizam and Ozan.

And some other stuff has happened too:

- Going into their final preliminary round game, there is still a situation where the Tall Blacks could move above fourth in their group and avoid an eighth-final game with hosts Turkey. They would need to beat France to force a three-way tie for second, then win by around 12 points in a medium to low-scoring game to move above France in the goal average countback, and by 25-plus points to leap-frog both France and Spain.

- Tall Blacks forward Tom Abercrombie threw down the dunk of the tournament so far late in the win over Lebanon. When the NZ Breaker leapt high, aided by a slight push-off on the Lebanese defender, to catch a Phill Jones alley-oop pass and send it in, bringing the entire arena to their feet in the biggest non-Lithuania ovation.

- Even though Turkey is only a young nation, established in 1922 after defeating Greece, it was banged home how old this land is when we visited the Ephesus ruins, near Selcuk, on the rest day. While the small number of NZ media snapped pics, marvelled at the pillars and facades, and got separated from the group, the Lithuanian media seemed like they'd seen it all before.

- Funniest moment of the rest day excursion was the 'Genuine Fake Watches' store at the entrance to Ephesus. Because everyone knows when you buy a fake watch, you don't want it to be anything but 100 percent fake.

- The rest of the Ephesus trip, put on for free by FIBA, included a lunch of traditional Turkish food prepared by Nomadic women, a visit to a carpet factory (which included a first taste of the Ouzo-like drink Raki, and a semi hard-sell on the rugs), Virgin Mary's last home near Meyemana, and a visit to the hilltop town of Sirince, including free fruit wine tastings poured by a boy that looked no older than 12.

- Had to feel a little sorry for Tab Baldwin after the Tall Blacks totally dominated his Lebanon team on Tuesday. Lebanon never matched the intensity of Nenad Vucinic's team and did not play Tab Baldwin basketball. His disappointment was evident at the post-game press conference but he remained professional and lumped praise on New Zealand, rather than throwing his players under the bus for a lack of effort.

- Young Canadian forward Kelly Olynyk has been one of my favourite players to watch in Group D. The 19-year-old, who competed at the FIBA U19 World Championship in Auckland last year, has provided a spark for the Canadians, averaging 6.3 points per game, while shooting 64 percent from the field and 50 percent on minimal three-point attempts.

- So far Team USA has had no trouble in Istanbul, qualifying unbeaten in Group B, despite a scare against Brazil. With a likely eighth-finals matchup against Angola, expect them to march into the quarters but from then on it will be intriguing to see if the Young Americans can handle the pressure exerted by the best teams in Europe.

- The tournament volunteers have been fantastic in Izmir. Although some limited in English, they've been eager to know more about New Zealand and the Tall Blacks. And as my photographer room-mate only does about two hours work a day, he's had plenty of time to educate them.

- He has however off-loaded the constant haka enquiries during this trip to me. The result? Picture someone that looks like an extra from a Twilight movie running a half-dozen Turkish volunteers and several drunk Lithuanian fans through the actions of Ka Mate.

- I owe an apology to Frankfurt Airport. Had bad-mouthed it when my bag didn't turn up in Istanbul. Turns out the bag was located in Vancouver. So Frankfurt Airport, I know you don't have feelings but sorry anyway.

- The karaoke contests at halftimes have continued to add great comedy to the long days. The best butchering of a song had to be the Turkish guy singing Poker Face. Although some would argue Lady Gaga had already butchered that one.

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