Following a late change in plans, Alperen Sengun is playing for Turkey’s national basketball team in this month’s FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament. On Friday versus Sweden, Sengun continued his run of strong form with 16 points and 5 rebounds on 6-of-9 shooting (66.7%), including 2-of-4 on 3-pointers (50.0%).
For the game, Turkey went plus-22 in Sengun’s 24 minutes played. Other current NBA players on Turkey’s team include Philadelphia’s Furkan Korkmaz and Utah’s Omer Yurtseven.
After going 3-0 in group play, Turkey was one of four teams to advance to the knockout stage. Both semifinals took place Friday. Led by Sengun, Turkey won its game with ease, 105-84 (box score), to set up Sunday’s final versus Croatia. The winner of that game earns a ticket to next year’s qualifiers for the 2024 Olympics.
All of Turkey’s pre-qualifying tournament games have taken place at Sinan Erdem Arena in Istanbul, which will host Sunday’s final.
From Friday, here’s a look at Sengun’s highlights versus Sweden. As for the Rockets, Sengun averaged 14.8 points (55.3% FG, 33.3% on 3-pointers), 9 rebounds, 3.9 assists in 28.9 minutes last year. He remains Houston’s expected starting center entering training camp for the 2023-24 NBA season, which begins in October.