<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">On Thanksgiving Day, it's safe to say the Jazz had no one to appreciate more for their six wins this season than, go figure, a big man from Turkey. With Carlos Boozer sidelined since training camp with a strained hamstring and Andrei Kirilenko missing the past half-dozen games with a sprained ankle, Mehmet Okur has emerged as a go-to guy meriting special mention from teammates and special attention from opponents. "Right now," said Kirilenko, who played his first and only NBA All-Star Game two seasons ago, "he's at All-Star level." In the Jazz's last outing, a 93-87 win at Seattle on Tuesday, Sonics coach Bob Weiss assigned burly Reggie Evans to guard Okur late in the game and asked for one particular thing from his club's defense. "Okur was the only guy we didn't want getting open on the outside," Weiss said. "Everybody else we wanted to beat us from the outside." So what does Okur do? The native of Yalova, Turkey, merely finished with 24 points, including 3-of-3 shooting from 3-point range. The last of Okur's trio of treys that night came with just one minute and 26 seconds remaining, extending Utah's dwindling advantage back to a safe six points. Two games prior, Memphis coach Mike Fratello put relentless defender Shane Battier on Okur ? whom Fratello said is "having a tremendous season" ? and held him to an off 13-point night. More often than not lately, though, Okur's had an answer for whatever teams toss at him. "I'm rolling right now from outside," he said, "because I'm feeling good. "If they don't (guard) me, I'm gonna be there," Okur added. "If they double me, I try to find my teammates wide open and just pass the ball."</div> <div align="center">Source</div>
