ANKARA (Türkiye) - In 2001 and 2010, Türkiye enjoyed their home-court advantage en route to a pair of runner-up finishes at the FIBA EuroBasket and the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
With their clubs being dominant in Europe, and Ergin Ataman establishing himself as one of the top coaches in all of basketball, it feels like the time is right for Türkiye to reach those heights again.
Considering Alperen Sengun is entering his prime as a player, and Cedi Osman, Shane Larkin, Omer Yurtseven and others ready to play, they've got all the right ingredients on paper. Now it's time to transcribe it to the court.
Schedule
August 27: vs Latvia (17:00 CET) August 29: vs Czechia (13:45 CET) August 30: vs Portugal (20:15 CET) September 1: vs Estonia (13:45 CET) September 3: vs Serbia (20:15 CET)
Star Player
Alperen Sengun has slowly but surely made himself the biggest star of this team, making appearances for the national team every single summer since 2021, averaging double digits in points and flirting with the same in rebounds every time he puts on his favorite jersey.
With two incredible seasons with the Houston Rockets in the NBA, getting 21.1 points, 9.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game in 2023-24, and 19.1 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 2024-25, it's easy to forget Sengun is just 23 years old.
He was already in beast mode in 2022 in this event, picking up 16.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. Expect him to top those numbers in 2025, even in a group group loaded with elite centers such as Nikola Jokic, Kristaps Porzingis or Neemias Queta.
History
Türkiye have not missed a FIBA EuroBasket event since 1991, but over those 14 Final Rounds, only once have they made it to Semi-Finals, back in 2001 when they reached the championship game.
Since then, Türkiye struggled to make it to the Quarter-Finals, even when they had strong Group Stage performances like in 2009, 2015 or 2022.
Aside from their second-place finish to start the millennium, the other best result came way back in 1949, their first EuroBasket appearance leading to fourth spot.
Best finish: 2nd in 2001
EuroBasket Top Scorers
Rank | Player | Games | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Hidayet Turkoglu | 49 | 607 |
2 | Ibrahim Kutluay | 40 | 526 |
3 | Yalcin Granit | 25 | 386 |
4 | Ersan Ilyasova | 32 | 355 |
5 | Mirsad Turkcan | 35 | 338 |
6 | Altan Dincer | 27 | 336 |
7 | Cedi Osman | 18 | 264 |
8 | Tosun Zeki | 21 | 260 |
9 | Ender Arslan | 35 | 246 |
10 | Mehmet Okur | 27 | 245 |
How they qualified
Gameday 1: ITA 87-80 TUR Gameday 2: TUR 76-75 ISL Gameday 3: TUR 92-66 HUN Gameday 4: HUN 76-81 TUR Gameday 5: TUR 67-80 ITA Gameday 6: ISL 83-71 TUR
Poll: Where will they finish?
Tickets
FIBA