RIGA (Latvia) - In 2017, Slovenia won the FIBA EuroBasket with a perfect 9-0 record, as the only team to do so since this competition format was introduced 10 years ago.
On Sunday, there will be another perfect champion, as Germany and Türkiye both enter the Final at 8-0. The latter claimed their ticket with a comfortable 94-68 win over Greece on Friday night.
It is only the second time in their history that they will play the EuroBasket Final, after 2001.
Turning Point
Greece had some good news and some bad news already in the first ten minutes of action. Good? They held Alperen Sengun scoreless.
Bad? They were still down by double digits, trailing 26-16 after the first quarter, because Ercan Osmani knocked down four triples and was off to 14 points in the period.
Once Sengun started dunking and dishing out assists in the second quarter, the lead ballooned to 45-25 late in the first half.
The situation was no different after the break, either, with the gap growing all the way to +26 late in the third quarter.
It was clear that the Turkish part of the 10,500 crowd will have more to celebrate at the end of the game.
TCL Player of the Game
What was that, Ercan Osmani!?
The 27-year-old power forward came up on both ends of the floor, helping the team stop Giannis Antetokounmpo as his primary defender, while also converting all offensive chances at the other end.
Osmani finished with a national team career-high of 28 points, done on 6-of-8 three-point shooting, enjoying life as the main target for Alperen Sengun's dishes.
Ercan never scored more than 17 points for the national team, hitting that mark in November 2024 in a FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers game against Hungary.
This was, however, not that close to his career-high on club level, as he put up 35 points (with 17 rebounds) for Bandirma in an 84-79 defeat to Yani Mamak Spor on March 14, 2020.
Stats Don't Lie
Turnovers killed Greece's chances in this one. The 22 turnovers they committed is the highest mark in EuroBasket Semi-Finals over the past 30 years.
Bottom Line
Türkiye are back in the Final, just as coach Ergin Ataman promised back in August in Riga.
This will be their second appearance in the championship game, having won silver at home in 2001. With Hedo Turkoglu watching courtside, Ataman's men will not settle for just a medal, they want to win gold here.
Their collective defense against Giannis Antetokounmpo was remarkable, with Ercan Osmani doing a lot of it by himself one-on-one, while Alperen Sengun had his back on the drives and around the rim.
Another piece of defense was pressuring the source, with Sehmus Hazer and Cedi Osman making it difficult for Greece to deliver the ball to their superstar, forcing 12 Greek turnovers in the first half alone.
When the ball found its way to Giannis in the low block, Türkiye were zoning, preventing him from scoring, willing to live with open shots from anybody else.
The plan worked perfectly, as they are now just one game away from winning their first major tournament. Aside from the EuroBasket 2001 silver, they also finished second at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2010.
For Greece, Giannis Antetokounmpo was held to 12 points, shooting 6-of-13 from the field, while grabbing 12 rebounds and handing out 5 assists.
Greece will face Finland in the Third-Place Game on Sunday.
They Said
"A medal is guaranteed, but of course it has to be gold now. We're gonna play against Germany, we're gonna go to the hotel now, we're gonna get some rest, then we'll start to prepare for the Final instead of celebrating." - Furkan Korkmaz, Türkiye
"It was one of the best defenses that I've ever seen in this competition." - Türkiye head coach Ergin Ataman praising his players for their defensive effort
"It's not enough for us. We're ready to fight for the title." - Ataman, again
"That's a legendary song, we still listen to it before the game, it's part of our pre-game routine. I was just so happy, so I was just singing." - Alperen Sengun, enjoying the moment when 12 Dev Adam song started playing in the arena mid-game
"We put our heart on the court tonight. We fight, it was a war for us. Ercan played really well, offensively, defensively, he was amazing. We just watched him today." - Sengun praising Osmani
For quotes, tune in to the official post-game press conference!
FIBA