Turkey was a late addition to the lineup of 18 teams participating in three FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments this week and made it only as a replacement for Lebanon which would’ve joined as the next highest placer at the FIBA Asia Championships in Changsha last year.

There were 15 seeds in the qualifying tournaments and three slots were allocated for the host countries. But as the Philippines, Italy and Serbia were among the 15 seeds, the three slots set aside for the hosts were awarded to the next highest finishers in the continental championships.

Since Italy and Serbia are in the Europe zone, the rankings of last year’s EuroBasket determined their replacements. The top seven were either qualified for Rio or entered in the qualifying tournaments – Spain, Lithuania, France, Serbia, Greece, Italy and the Czech Republic. No. 8 Latvia and No.9 Croatia were then added to the contenders’ roster.

In the Philippines’ case, the next highest FIBA Asia finisher was No. 5 Lebanon after China, the Philippines, Iran and Japan. China has qualified for Rio while the Philippines, Iran and Japan are playing in separate qualifiers. As Lebanon is not in good standing, FIBA exercised its prerogative to select a replacement which turned out to be Turkey because of its No. 8 world ranking. Despite its lofty FIBA ranking, Turkey finished No. 14 in the last EuroBasket. Turkey was a “wildcard” addition to the cast of 18.

Turkey was later drawn to Group A with Canada and Senegal in the Manila Olympic qualifying leg that started yesterday. Although NBA mainstays Enes Kanter and Ersan Ilyasova of the Oklahoma City Thunder opted to skip the Manila tournament, Turkey remains a serious contender.

On the way to Manila, Turkey played five tune-up games, beating Gilas, 103-68, and the Czech Republic, 92-65, and bowing to China, 75-70, and Greece twice, 78-52 and 75-70. Last Friday, Turkey beat the Philippines, 84-76, in both teams’ final warm-up at the MOA Arena.

Since finishing second to the US at the 2010 FIBA World Cup in Istanbul, Turkey slid to eighth at the 2014 edition in Spain. In the EuroBasket competition, Turkey improved from No. 17 in 2013 to No. 14 last year. What’s motivating Turkey to win in Manila is breaking a 64-year absence from playing basketball at the Olympics. Turkey has played Olympic basketball only in 1936 and 1952. Turkey’s wait is even longer than the Philippines’ drought. The Philippines hasn’t played basketball in the Olympics since Munich in 1972.

Coach Ergin Ataman, 50, has reinforced the national team with naturalized player Bobby Dixon, a 5-10 dynamo who has been a fixture in the Turkish league since 2012 and took out citizenship last year. Dixon, 33, played in France, Poland, Ukraine and Italy before landing in Turkey. To celebrate his new citizenship, Dixon changed his name to Ali Muhammed. Against Gilas last Friday, Dixon scored 16 points in 16:37 minutes, hitting 7-of-11 field goals.

For countries like the Philippines, the mold of a naturalized player is a big man like Marcus Douthit or Andray Blatche. But for countries like Turkey where there is an abundance of giants, the mold of a naturalized player is a small man. Russia, for instance, naturalized 6-1 American J. R. Holden who led the national team to the 2007 EuroBasket championship with a ticket to the 2008 Olympics as a reward.

Turkey has two NBA veterans, 7-0 Omer Asik and 6-11 Semih Erden, four NBA draft picks, Asik, Cedi Osman, Erden and Furkan Korkmaz and three players with US collegiate credentials, Dixon from Troy University in Alabama, Sinan Guler from Carroll College in Montana and Dogus Balbay from the University of Texas. Five players saw action at the 2014 FIBA World Cup – Asik, Osman, Ogus Savas, Baris Hersek and Guler. Only three players are 30 and over, indicating Ataman’s focus on youth.

Size, quickness and inside/outside firepower are elements that could propel Turkey to the top of the heap. Ataman’s bread-and-butter play is the pick-and-roll with Asik setting the screen for Ali then rolling to seal or hit the layup. Osman, Guler and Samet Geyik are options to shoot from the outside from the extra pass. Turkey is out to prove the last-minute call to replace Lebanon wasn’t a waste.