European Hoops: EuroBasket 2025 Preview Series – Türkiye

  • With EuroBasket 2025 tipping off, this is your one-stop destination for in-depth previews of all 24 national teams heading into Europe’s premier basketball tournament. Whether you’re tracking MVP candidates, X’s-and-O’s brilliance, or just figuring out who might crash the medal party, our Power Rankings and team-by-team breakdowns will keep you ahead of the curve.

     

    Türkiye: Talented, Deep and Still Searching for Flow

    Group A – EuroBasket 2025 Preview

    Türkiye heads into EuroBasket 2025 with talent to spare, but also with questions that still haven’t gone away. Their 3–3 qualifying record left a bitter aftertaste: while they swept Hungary, they lost both games to Italy and split with Iceland — the lone win coming via buzzer-beater from Biberovic at home. That qualifier version is now gone. What arrives in Group A is a reshuffled, star-powered roster with a higher ceiling — and a narrower margin for excuses.

    Best Players: The qualifiers saw Cedi Osman, Omer Yurtseven and Tarık Biberovic stand out, while Sehmus Hazer played all six games as a steady ball-handler. But the rotation now shifts. Shane Larkin returns to lead the backcourt and take over as the primary creator — a role Türkiye needs filled with urgency. Alperen Şengün is the team’s best player, bringing scoring, passing and playmaking from the interior. Cedi remains a key wing, and Furkan Korkmaz is expected to fill the off-ball shooting role vacated by Biberovic, who arguably earned a spot but was left out due to FIBA’s one naturalized player limit with Larkin returning.

    Strengths: This is a deep team. They have size, interior presence and a rare mix of frontcourt playmaking with shooting. Larkin gives them a true guard who can break down defenses and Cedi and Korkmaz provide secondary creation and experience. Türkiye can score in a variety of ways and with multiple players who can initiate offense, they are tough to scheme against when in rhythm.

    Weaknesses: Defensive concerns remain, particularly in transition and when guarding off the ball. Opponents can exploit lapses in help rotations and lose them in movement-heavy sets. They also lack a true movement shooter — a gap that Biberovic might have helped fill. Larkin can add some of that off-ball punch, but shooting diversity is still thin. If they struggle to generate spacing through rhythm and motion, halfcourt execution can get bogged down.

    The Bottom Line: On paper, Türkiye has the tools to make a deep run — high-level creators, skilled bigs, and bench depth. But that’s been true before. The difference in 2025 will come down to how well they defend, and whether they can find consistent shooting and chemistry quickly. If they do, they’re a real threat in Group A and beyond. If not, the same old problems will resurface.

    Expectation: Talented but Unproven

    Plenty of weapons, but cohesion and shooting will determine how far they go.

     

    This article was co-written by the hosts of the European Hoops podcast, Tiago Cordeiro and André Lemos. Subscribe to the podcast and follow European Hoops on Twitter: @EthosEuroleague.

    July 30, 2025, 2:54 am