By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Turkey will kick off their EuroBasket 2025 campaign against host Latvia on August 27 in Riga, looking to get off to a strong start in a highly competitive Group A. The group also includes Serbia, Czechia, Estonia, and Portugal, with Turkey facing a challenging schedule leading up to a key clash with Serbia.
The team has spent a month in preparation and enters the tournament with an experienced and talented roster. While acknowledging the strength of their opponents, Turkey’s head coach Ergin Ataman and key player Cedi Osman are focused on a game-by-game approach to build momentum from the start.
Cedi Osman reflected on the quality of the tournament and the challenge posed by Latvia as the host nation: “This will be one of the best EuroBasket tournaments ever. Every team has come with its best roster. It’s going to be a tough game against Latvia. But I think we have had a very good preparation period, and we are ready for tomorrow’s game and the tournament.”
On Turkey’s tough Group A opponents, Osman added: “It’s too early, but Serbia has a great team, a great roster, and they are one of the main candidates. For us, it’s about going game by game. This is definitely the toughest group—you have the home-court team, Serbia, us, the Czech Republic—maybe not with their best roster, but still experienced—and Estonia and Portugal, two teams that are climbing up every year. In the end, we are here to win every game.”
Head coach Ergin Ataman was then asked about merging top-level players from both the NBA and EuroLeague into a cohesive unit: “It’s very easy for me. I have the experience—25 years coaching big teams in Europe and the EuroLeague. We had a month to prepare, so team chemistry is okay. Of course, game-day performance is very important, and I hope my players will have a good day tomorrow. We didn’t have any difficulties, because when you have players like I have now, everything becomes easier when building team chemistry,” Ataman explained.