By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
Riga, Latvia – Shane Larkin dreamed of nights like this, hoping to have his name cemented in the history books. While he previously managed to do it with the club, he’s also one of Türkiye’s heroes now.
Ergin Ataman’s team qualified for the gold-medal game at FIBA RuroBasket 2025 by destroying Greece, and Anadolu Efes‘ point guard stepped up with 14 points and 5 assists.
“I’m extremely proud. When I signed on to be on the national team five years ago, this was the only goal that I had in mind: to bring a medal to the country,” he said after the win.
“I know there had been a drought for quite some time when I joined the team. So to be here right now, guaranteed a medal is a great feeling. But I would really love for that medal to be gold.”
“So we’re going to go out here in the next few days and strategize and work on our bodies and try to stay focused and come out there in the next game and try to win a medal, a gold one,” he added.
Obviously, this was Ercan Osmani’s dream performance with 28 points to take down Vassilis Spanoulis’ team. “It’s the same thing that I’ve been saying from the beginning. There are 12 quality players on this team, and at the end of the day, it could be any of us,” Larkin followed.
“It’s not going to be Alpi [Sengun] every game or me, Cedi [Osman], or the bigger names that usually get the notoriety for scoring the ball. There are so many guys on this roster that can come out and have huge moments and huge games.
“Today it was Ercan, and just extremely happy to have him on my team, especially in Efes and on the national team. And with that performance, he showed the world the kind of player that he is,” he said.
Shane Larkin also touched on Cedi Osman’s game-time decision availability. “We were all kind of up in the air. He tried some stuff at shootaround this morning, but it was a game-time decision”, he said.
“But him being the captain and him playing on the national team for the many years that he has to be in this moment, for him to step up and play through pain and be out there and give his all for his teammates is everything. And it’s the sacrifice that you need to have in these kinds of tournaments.”
“I think that mentality has been what’s pushed us to this moment. It’s all about us. We believe in each other, we’re here for each other. We got each other’s backs. And the fact that he did that today was really huge for our captain,” Larkin added about Panathinaikos‘ forward.
Now, they will meet the reigning World Champions. “Germany’s a great team. It’s going to be a challenging game. They’re high octane, play fast, up-tempo,” Larkin said.
“But at the end of the day, I think we’ve shown throughout the tournament that we’re just as qualified as anybody to go out there and win this tournament.”
“So we have to go back, watch some film, understand our game plan, execute it, and then just come out here and fight. And if we come out here and fight and give everything that we have, anything’s possible.”
PHOTO CREDIT: FIBA