Turkey proceeded to the finals of EuroBasket 2025 after defeating Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Greece 94-68 in the semi-finals. The Bucks’ superstar was held to only 12 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists as Turkey comfortably strolled to victory after dominating them throughout.
A major credit for this goes to Turkey’s Ercan Osmani, who was the primary defender on Giannis Antetokounmpo. The seven-foot center plays for Anadolu Efes in the Turkish league. As it turns out, his star teammate, Alperen Sengun, used unconventional ways to motivate him to work harder to stop Antetokounmpo.
Following the victory over Greece, Alperen Sengun spoke to the media and revealed he had promised an additional bonus gift to Osmani before the game if he held Giannis Antetokounmpo to under 20 points.
“We are very happy, what else can I say? I am really proud of my teammates today. I am so happy to be part of this team and this family.”
“I love this team with everything. We are like brothers here. We really deserved it. We went out and fought today; it is very important for us,” said Sengun
“I made a promise to Ercan [Osmani], if you keep Giannis under 20 points, I’ll buy you a Rolex. I will keep my promise and buy him the best Rolex. My brother did his best and fought.”
Sengun signed a five-year, $185 million deal with the Rockets, so he has plenty of money to offer such incentives to his teammates as they proceed to the Finals.
Osmani not only held Antetokounmpo to under 20 points, but he also led all scorers for Turkey with 28 points, six rebounds, and two assists. Sengun also pointed out Antetokounmpo’s weakness during the post-game interview, which the team seemed to exploit in the game.
Turkish Coach Predicts NBA Offers For Ercan Osmani
Turkey’s head coach Ergan Ataman appeared for the post-game interview with major praise for his top scorer, Osmani. He apologized to the GM of Anadolu Efes as he anticipated NBA teams would try to lure Osmani away from them.
“Osmani made great defense against Giannis. I don’t know if my friend Ismail Senol, Efes GM, will be in trouble that many NBA teams will come to Osmani to try to stop Giannis.”
“But I think he’s very happy in Efes. So he did a great job stopping him very well, very smart and very aggressive.”
Osmani is an effective two-way threat inside and outside the paint. His three-point percentage shot up severely after the first four seasons of his career. In the last four seasons alone, he shot 40.3% from three-point range, making him a valuable addition to many NBA teams right now.
Therefore, his performance of stopping Giannis Antetokounmpo may gather enough attention to get him some offers in the league.
