“Of course, the goal is a medal.” These are Turkey’s center, Alperen Sengun’s words. It’s safe to say that the 23-year-old is quite confident in his team’s ability heading into the EuroBasket 2025. Why shouldn’t he be? Sengun knows just how good this Turkey roster is, and more importantly, how motivated they are. However, their path to success won’t be easy by any means. That’s because they are drawn up in what can only be seen as the group of death.
They will go up against Nikola Jokic’s Serbia, along with Kristaps Porzingis-led Latvia, Estonia, Czechia, and Portugal. Nonetheless, this will not cause too much concern for Sengun and Turkey, as this isn’t the first time they have entered the competition as underdogs. Something similar happened during EuroBasket 2022. So, how did that tournament go for a then-21-year-old big man? Did Turkey make a deep playoff run? Here’s how it went.
How did Turkey’s EuroBasket 2022 campaign go?
Turkey entered the EuroBasket 2022 as an underdog, but that perspective changed just after one game. Alperen Sengun and his team started off with a hard-fought 72-68 win against Montenegro. In which the Houston Rockets center played a huge part. Sengun put up 12 points and six rebounds as the Turks moved to their next group stage battle against Bulgaria. Turkey then registered their second win, as Sengun went off scoring 20 points along with nine rebounds and four assists.
While the first two games were entertaining, it was the third game against hosts Georgia that everyone will never forget. Not because of the basketball that was played that they ( It was a thrilling game that ended in an 88-83 Georgia win after double overtime), but for the ugly incident that took place during the fourth quarter, which saw Furkan Korkmaz and Duda Sanadze ejected from the game. However, Turkey bounced back from the setback with a convincing win against Belgium.
Then, for their last group stage clash, Turkey were up against European basketball royalty, Spain. As expected, Sengun and Co. were no match as Spain handed them their second loss of the tournament. However, three wins and two losses were enough for them to advance to the round of 16, where 2021 Olympic silver medalists and one of the favorites, France, awaited them. While many expected this to be a one-sided affair, Turkey proved everyone wrong.
In fact, they did not just compete against France but forced overtime. However, just when everyone thought the Turkey was going to pull off a miracle, a last Terry Tarpey snatched the game away as France won by just one point, advancing to the quarter finals. This marked an end to Turkey’s incredible EuroBasket 2022 campaign. While several players contributed throughout the team’s gutsy run to the final 16, it was Sengun who stood out from the rest.
The Houston Rockets’ big man had several stunning games, including a 24-point game against Belgium and a strong showing against France– Sengun averaged 16.5 points along with 8.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists. However, we might not have witnessed this stellar run from Turkey nor Sengun’s brilliance against Belgium and France, had they left the competition midway through the group stage, following a huge off-court incident against Georgia.
Was Turkey about to leave the EuroBasket 2022 midway through the group stage?
As we mentioned, things got heated between Turkey and Georgia during the third group stage matchup of EuroBasket 2022. It all went down during the fourth quarter of the highly competitive game when Turkey’s Furkan Korkmaz got into a fight with Georgia’s Duda Sanadze. This scrap– eventually controlled by the referees–saw both players get ejected from the game and rightly so. While everyone thought that this was all that had happened that night, after the game Turkish federation’s vice president released a statement.
According to Omer Onan, several of the Georgian players attacked Korkmaz and a Turkish trainer and even claimed that the Georgian national police got involved. “While Furkan Korkmaz was walking in the hallway to the locker rooms with our trainer, Georgia’s players who were not on the active roster attacked him together with (Sanadze) and the police,” Onan told the reporters.
Furkan Korkmaz getting into it with Georgia’s Duda Sanadze
Fans started throwing cups onto the court
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 4, 2022
“There should not be an attack on the player that goes to the locker room. At the end of the match, 30 policemen each pushed us into a fight. We got into a fight with Georgia’s official police. I am calling out to FIBA, and I have also told FIBA’s officials. Let no one deceive themselves or think that we are stupid. They will bring us all the camera footage from that corridor minute by minute without anything missing. If those cameras do not come to us, we will leave this tournament.” Onan further warned.
The VP of the Turkish federation wasn’t having any of it and was furious about the incident, as he demanded justice and even threatened to forfeit the tournament. However, that did not happen, with FIBA setting up an inquiry bench to find out the truth behind the matter. Soon, the governing body gave out its verdict, handing out suspensions and fines to several players, including Sanadze, Korkmaz, and a few others. However, that wasn’t all.
FIBA also handed out a massive $50,000 fine to the Georgian Basketball Federation, and an $18,500 fine was also issued to the Turkish Basketball Federation. This is how the issue was finally resolved, as Turkey and Alperen Sengun then went on a miraculous playoff run. Now, the expectations from the Turkish team, especially Sengun, are very high as he’s coming off a great NBA campaign with the Rockets. So, it will be interesting to see how he does at the EuroBasket 2025.
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