Photo: FIBA

Following Monday’s strong win against Estonia, Shane Larkin told Eurohoops that Turkiye now faces a crucial Group A matchup with Serbia on Wednesday, which will decide the top spot in the preliminary round of FIBA EuroBasket 2025.

The matchup will be highlighted by a showdown between NBA stars Alperen Sengun and Nikola Jokic, a marquee pairing that has fans eager for Game Day 5 action, before both teams advance into the knockout stage of the tournament.

“We talk about starting and making the first punch, and we’ve been able to do that over the first few games. Obviously, we have a really important, a really hard test coming in the next few days,” Larkin explained, highlighting the stakes and preparation involved.

“All the work that we’ve been putting in the last few months and all the things that we’ve been talking about and working on is going to be put to the test in the next game.”

Serbia will be without Bogdan Bogdanovic for the remainder of the EuroBasket due to injury, but the team still aims to live up to expectations and maintain their gold medal aspirations in Riga.

When asked about labels such as “favorite” or “underdog,” Larkin downplayed their importance, emphasizing focus and teamwork over outside opinions.

“I think people are going to say what they’re going to say. It doesn’t really matter what people on the outside are saying. Once you get in between those four lines, it’s about who plays the hardest, who plays together, who stays poise in the big moments.”

The discussion naturally turned to the anticipated battle between Sengun and Jokic. Larkin called it must-watch basketball.

“There’s no other basketball going on in the world right now. This is the game to watch if you’re going to be watching the basketball and you are a basketball fan.”

He also praised his teammate Sengun’s mindset going into the matchup, noting his drive to improve and compete at the highest level.

“I know he’s really motivated for it. One of the best players in the world, if not the best player in the world, and I think Alperen has those aspirations to continue to strive to be one of the better players in the NBA, one of the better players in the world, and I think he’s well on his way. So it’s going to be fun.”

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