The road to the round of 16 was far from easy. It required help from an unexpected direction when Great Britain surprisingly beat Montenegro for Sweden to reach the playoffs in Riga.
Now the next tough hurdle is waiting, Turkey. A star-studded team with great experience from both the NBA and EuroLeague.
"Brutal energy"
I do not think we should put them on a pedestal. We just have to go out and play basketball, says Barra Njie about Saturday's match in Riga.
Njie, however, points out an important aspect for Sweden.
We must match their physicality. Play as hard and strong as they do, he says.
Team captain Ludvig Håkanson is on the same track.
We must come out with a brutal energy. I do not think that some of their big stars will have full control over who we are and how we play. To be able to surprise them with energy, shock them a bit in the beginning and stand up for the first minutes, we can probably keep it even.
"Up at night and working"
A key factor for the national team during the tournament has been the defense. Håkanson and Njie praise the leadership's work with scouting and analysis.
Yes, absolutely a hundred percent. They must get all the credit and are up at night and just work, work and work. That's all they do.
Håkanson develops:
Scouting is something we have relied on and they do a very good job. What I think the leadership does well is to know exactly how much information they should give us. If we get too much information, maybe we can not implement it.
"Feels really like it"
Sweden has never before gone to the playoffs in a European Championship tournament. Njie and Håkanson feel that they are in the middle of something big for Swedish basketball.
Swedish basketball is going in the completely right direction. What has been missing is that we go to a championship and get some successes and now we are in the middle of it. It's very fun, says Håkanson.
When you're on social media, you see it and then you feel it too. It feels like everyone is at home watching and it's something that's incredibly fun, says Njie.
