Houston Rockets star Alperen Sengun is making a lot of noise with his current run in the 2025 FIBA EuroBasket with the Turkish men’s national basketball team. On Monday, Sengun led Turkey to a 91-77 victory over Poland. The one-time All-Star finished the game with a tripole-double of 19 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
The win gave Turkey a chance to advance to the semifinal round and face the Giannis Antetokounmpo-led Greece team. It’s set up to be a superstar-filled matchup between the two frontcourt stars.
Former NBA player, Furkan Korkmaz, gave one of the biggest props to Sengun. Korkmaz used to play for the Philadelphia 76ers and was teammates with All-Star Joel Embiid. The Cameroonian star has been an All-Star multiple times and has won the MVP award while they were teammates. For the Turkish guard, he viewed Embiid as the best center he’s played with.
But that all changed after the jaw-dropping performance from Sengun. Korkmaz spoke highly of the Houston Rockets star for the work he put in.
“Until now, I think Joel Embiid was the best player, best center that I [played with],” Korkmaz said. “But I think we can tell that it’s Alperen [Sengun] now.
“It’s great to be around him, you know. He’s enjoying playing basketball, he helps us a lot, on the court. Defensively and offensively. I think he’s a special kid and every day he’s trying to give his maximum [effort]. This year, we are also seeing that he’s playing aggressive defense also, not only offensively.
Korkmaz believes Sengun will continue to grow and become an even better player.
“That gives us a lot of confidence on the frontcourt… He’s helping us from different ways. I hope that he has still a long way to go, he’s gonna grow a lot.”
The Houston Rockets center made history with his triple-double
The Houston Rockets star has started to emerge as one of the best international players in the recent EuroBasket tournament. His triple-double has been recognized as part of the tournament’s history. According to FIBA’s post on X, Sengun was the first player to post a triple-double in EuroBasket history.
“Youngest to do it in EuroBasket history,” FIBA posted. “ALPEREN SENGUN DROPPED A TRIPLE-DOUBLE IN 25 MINUTES. 🇹🇷”
Youngest to do it in EuroBasket history.
ALPEREN SENGUN DROPPED A TRIPLE-DOUBLE IN 25 MINUTES. 🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/V2eP4S7FOg
— FIBA EuroBasket (@EuroBasket) September 9, 2025
Fans can see Sengun’s historic run on Friday, as they take on Greece. It will be a tough challenge for Turkey to stop Antetokounmpo. But they will rely on the young center to lead them to victory.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
