Turkey advanced to the EuroBasket Finals last night after beating Greece 94-68 in the semis. Giannis Antetokounmpo was at the core of every Greek offensive possession throughout this entire tournament and so stopping him was priority number one. Alperen Sengun even managed to monetarily incentivize defending Giannis for his teammates.
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“He’s an amazing player you know. But he’s not a great passer,” said Sengun on Giannis last night. This is what Turkey banked on. ‘The Wall’ was ever-present for a majority of the night with constant double teams being hurled at the ‘Greek Freak’.
Alperen Sengun names Giannis Antetokounmpo’s weakness: “He’s an amazing player, you know, but he’s not a great passer.” ️ #EuroBasket
Read more: https://t.co/Rbx1N5HRi1 pic.twitter.com/S6q1pKvrcm
— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) September 12, 2025
Funnily enough, Giannis is a fantastic passer and facilitator. He’s athletic enough to make decisions while in the air along with having a general sense of who is where on the floor. Perhaps his lack of fondness with the Greek national players and the chasm-like difference between his talents and theirs is what led to Alpy’s plan panning out.
Along with great team defense, Sengun credited Ercan Osmani for his individual defense on the 2x NBA MVP. He held him to 12 points on the night on less than 50% shooting from the field.
“I don’t know where Ercan found this strength. He played magnificent defense. Holding a player like Giannis to 12 points is incredible. I’m so proud of him. I’m really happy for him.”
Sengen also promised Ercan to get him a Rolex on one condition prior to the game. “I made a promise to Ercan. If you keep Giannis under 20 points, I’ll buy you a Rolex.”
Looks like Sengun is going to be down more than just a few thousand dollars. It wasn’t just Ercan’s defensive prowess however. He dropped 28 points on the night with the Rockets star contributing 15 and 12 of his own.
Germany beat Finals to advance to the Finals as well. The stage is now set for Dennis Schroder to cement himself as an all-time international great against Sengen if Germany were to win. Though, this Turkish hot-streak does seem to be quite daunting.
