Somewhere out there, fans of the Houston Rockets are rubbing their palms as they eagerly await another huge year for center Alperen Sengun. Many are expecting him to play even better, especially with his outstanding stint for Turkey in the EuroBasket.
Turkey, which has yet to lose in the tournament, advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 2001 after beating Poland, 91-77, in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Sengun had another elite performance, finishing with a triple-double of 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists. At 23 years old, he became the youngest player in the history of the EuroBasket to register a triple-double, according to FIBA.
He surpassed Slovenia's Luka Doncic and Croatia's Toni Kukoc, who were both 26 years old when they achieved the mark.
The Rockets pivot also became just the fifth player in the history of the tournament to tally a triple-double, joining Doncic, Kukoc, Poland's Mateusz Ponitka, and Romania's Andrei Mandache.
Despite another impressive showing, Sengun stressed that he's only focused on the win.
Turkey will face Greece in the semifinals, setting up what should be an intense encounter between Sengun and Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo. Greece defeated Lithuania, 87-76, in the quarterfinals to advance to the Final Four for the first time since 2009.
Sengun is a frontrunner for the MVP trophy. He's averaging team-highs of 21.6 points, 10.9 rebounds, 7.1 assists, and 1.6 steals.
He may have been downplaying his all-around greatness, but his teammate and former NBA player Furkan Korkmaz knows that with Sengun at the forefront, they can go all the way to the title.
“We were calling this the ‘golden generation,' saying ‘it's coming, it's coming, we have time.' But now, it's our time. Every day that we step on the court, we are showing it. We are not just winning the games, we're also enjoying the way that we play basketball,” said Korkmaz in a report from FIBA.
Turkey and Greece will battle on Friday.
