Alperen Sengun led Turkey to their first EuroBasket last since 2001 after a dominant 94-68 semifinal victory over Greece.
The Houston Rockets heart contributed 15 factors and 12 rebounds whereas serving to orchestrate a defensive masterpiece.
Turkey efficiently contained Greece famous person Giannis Antetokounmpo, limiting him to only 12 factors in half-hour.
The efficiency marked Giannis’ lowest scoring output after by no means scoring fewer than 27 factors all through the event.
Alperen Sengun revealed the tactical strategy that neutralized one in all basketball’s most dominant forces.
Turkey’s defensive scheme mixed particular person task with strategic staff assist to disrupt Antetokounmpo’s typical dominance.
“I imply, we simply put Ercan [Osmani] on him and helped as a lot as we may,” Sengun defined after the sport.
“And Ercan did an ideal job at this time. In fact, Giannis is without doubt one of the greatest gamers on this planet. And we simply tried to assist Ercan. I believe we did a very good job.”
Sengun particularly recognized Antetokounmpo’s passing limitations as a key weak spot Turkey exploited throughout their defensive recreation plan.
“He’s not an ideal passer. He’s an incredible participant, you realize, however he’s not an ideal passer. So we simply tried to assist and collapse on the paint,” Sengun added.
Sengun’s evaluation may show worthwhile for NBA groups, in addition to for the Milwaukee Bucks below Doc Rivers.
The coach plans to make Antetokounmpo the first ball handler subsequent season because of the staff’s lack of a star-caliber level guard.
Any NBA staff may observe Turkey’s profitable technique of collapsing on Antetokounmpo whereas forcing him into playmaking conditions.
Osmani, who drew the first task on Antetokounmpo, delivered an impressive two-way efficiency with 28 factors whereas capturing 75% from three-point vary.
He and Sengun, who’s evolving past his ‘Child Jokic’ comparisons, will lead Turkey within the EuroBasket 2025 last towards Germany as they pursue their first continental championship.
