ISTANBUL (2016 FIBA U17 World Championship) - Onuralp Bitim's eyes roll when he is asked to talk about the past two summers with Turkey's youth national team - two losses in the Semi-Finals of the FIBA U16 European Championship. The highly-talented wingman is looking to snap that streak this summer at the FIBA U17 World Championship.

"It was an awful feeling, but it helped me a lot to learn something. It was a great learning experience because I lost two U16 Semi-Final games in a row. That's a really awful feeling,” said Bitim, whose Turkish team fell to eventual champions France in 2014 and hosts and finalists Lithuania last year.

"It gives us even more motivation."

Bitim scored 18 points in last summer's Semi-Final but shot just 7 of 18 and turned the ball over six times in the 73-71 loss to Lithuania. And while it was a hard lesson to learn, just playing in that game meant he had guided Turkey to a historic feat - qualifying for the FIBA U17 World Championship for the first time.

Bitim and Co. will take on Egypt, United States and Chinese Taipei in Group A in Zaragoza.

I’m so excited because it’s our first time, and our U17 team is a really good team. Of course we want to get to the podium. - Bitim

"It's going to be a lot of fun and I think we will show everybody the real Turkish team. We just have to play how we can play. We really did a good job at the European Championship. We just need to play. I believe in my team and coaches."

Bitim, who was named to the All-Star Five of the 2015 FIBA U16 European Championship, has gone through a lot since the loss in Kaunas. The Kadikoy native left Turkey for the United States to attend the highly-acclaimed Huntington Prep high school in West Virginia.

"I thought my playing style is more similar to American players. I just wanted to play in the States against the best players in the world. I went there also because of my education, my language and because I want to play college basketball."

But Bitim, who earlier in 2015 got the chance to play in the Jordan Brand Classic International Game, did more than just learn about the US style of play. He also hit the weight room and bulked up his body.

"I wanted to be bigger because American basketball is really different than European," Bitim said.

If you’re a smart player, you can score and create things. But in the States you also have to be strong mentally and physically. So I just wanted to get bigger. - Bitim

The difference was clear as Bitim returned to Europe to play at the 2016 Albert Schweitzer Tournament. But the wing still maintained the versatility, agility and quickness that made him so successful at the U16 level.

And the changes were not lost on Turkey's U17 coach Fatih Elbas. 

"I know that he improved a lot mentally and physically. He always can score but I think he can also play good defense if he is focused," he said of Bitim. 

The coach said the 1.95m guard/forward will play a big role within the team in Zaragoza.

"Onuralp is one part of the team. Everybody must do their best on the court. And we need to play as a team to achieve something."

Bitim, for his part, said he's not done working on his body.

"I want to have an NBA player's body. Maybe my body is good for European players, but it's still just an average body in the States. So I have to keep on getting bigger," he said.

Bitim's time in the States also saw him play against many of the top high school programs in the country, meaning he faced some of the best US players. That insight might come in handy for Turkey this summer as Turkey and the United States were drawn together in Group A.

That game could decide first and second place in the group and if the two countries take the top spots, Bitim would love to get to face the Americans again.

That's because the next time they could square off again would be the Final - meaning the Turks would have got past the Semi-Finals.

FIBA