Turkey vs Greece: Semifinal showdown in Riga – Tip-off at 21:00 for a spot in Sunday’s EuroBasket final

The situation is monolithic for some sides. Greece is chasing its archetypal EuroBasket medal since 2009, erstwhile it took bronze successful Poland, portion Turkey past reached the podium successful 2001 with a metallic astatine home. Turkey enters the crippled undefeated astatine 7-0, including a group-stage triumph implicit Serbia, whereas Greece, contempt a nonaccomplishment to Bosnia, has impressed successful the knockout rounds to scope the semifinals.

Veteran manager Vassilis Spanoulis, successful his archetypal EuroBasket arsenic caput coach, seeks to scope the last and seizure gold, echoing his triumph arsenic a subordinate successful Belgrade 2005. Giannis Antetokounmpo leads Greece, averaging 29.8 points and 9 rebounds crossed 5 games, highlighted by 37 points against Israel successful the circular of 16. Turkey relies connected Rockets prima Alperen Sengün, who has scored 151 points successful the tournament, including a triple-double against Poland (19 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists).

Greece fields seasoned players Kostas Sloukas and Kostas Papanikolaou successful their last tournament, portion Turkey pairs Sengün with the explosive Larkin and Osman, who is recovering from wounded but expected to play. On the sidelines, Spanoulis and Turkey’s Ergin Ataman person sparred implicit refereeing decisions involving Giannis.

Historically, Greece has dominated their head-to-head with Turkey successful 68 men’s matches, holding 45 wins to Turkey’s 23, including 5 consecutive EuroBasket victories since 2013. The coaches’ intimate cognition of players adds other intrigue, with Ataman coaching respective Greek squad members astatine Panathinaikos and acquainted with Giannis’ brother, Kostas.

Tonight’s semifinal promises intensity, strategy, and precocious play arsenic 2 hoops powerhouses conflict for a changeable astatine the EuroBasket final.