EuroBasket is officially over for Greece and Giannis, but life moves on
Greece fell to Germany in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, but despite the tough loss there's still reasons for positivity this summer.
Editor’s note: the following article was written by Gyro Step assistant producer Eugene Choursoutoglou. Follow him on Twitter for more of his Hellas and Bucks thoughts!
Tuesday night was a tough night for Greeks and every neutral fan that was rooting for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece. The Greek national team suffered a painful, 11-point loss to Germany (107-96) and was disqualified from the rest of EuroBasket.
A highly energized German team, with their fans on their side with the game in Berlin, put on an offensive masterclass against Greece. Germany shot 55% from three (it was around 65% if we exclude the final 5 minutes when the game was already over). Greece was also out-rebounded by 14 rebounds. What was a very optimistic end to the first half, when Greece was up by 4, ended in a nightmare for Greece. After Kostas Sloukas’ crazy buzzer beater, someone would’ve thought that Greece had the mental strength to enter the second half and finish off strong. But that was clearly not the case.
Germany started the third quarter on a 20-1 run, continuing their shooting spree. Dennis Schroder was the top scorer for Germany with 26 points. Franz Wagner and Andreas Obst were also great, scoring 19 each. For Greece, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 31 points. No one else stepped up big time, except for Giannoulis Larentzakis, whose 18 points and a very passionate performance were not enough eventually.
There’s no need to over-analyze the game. Greece was out-worked on both ends of the floor. Offensively, no one stepped up besides Giannis and Larentzakis, and on the defensive end, Greece kept switching everything. As a result, Germany was taking advantage of multiple mismatches, leading Greece’s centers away from the paint, something that led to Germany grabbing multiple offensive boards. If you’d tell me before the game that Greece would go on to score 96 points, I would’ve guessed they’d beat Germany. But unfortunately this was not the case. Maybe on any other day, the result would’ve been different. But that’s basketball.
Germany, Spain, France, and Poland all continued to the semis, which means the three biggest stars of the tournament did not make the final four. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, and Luka Doncic failed to defend their titles as favorites. Makes you wonder if having a top-5 player in your squad is a panacea.
Embracing the Greek national team
Greece’s disqualification might come as good news to those who were worried about Giannis’ condition and possible injury scares. But for Greek fans - including me - it was a very painful experience. And for the Greek players as well. Leading to this tournament, the excitement between Greeks was more than obvious. The roster was characterized by many as “the greatest Greek roster of the last 13 years.” Between games, everything people were talking about on the road and in social gatherings was the national team. The expectations were high, and they were partly created by their own team.
Having Giannis playing for the Greek national team is a true blessing. Greeks have spent countless hours awake the last decade watching Giannis perform with the Milwaukee Bucks and represent the country overseas. Now it was time for them to watch Giannis represent the blue and white flag in a tournament that has been Greece’s long desired dream. And it was truly amazing, seeing - for the first time - three brothers sing the national anthem with all their heart.
Three immigrant brothers, who have taught us some very precious lessons on what hard work, determination, and persistence can do. I couldn’t choose better human beings representing my country. It sure meant a lot for Greeks, watching these guys representing the country with all their heart. And by their reactions after the game, you could tell it meant a lot to them as well. Kostas was very emotional after the final buzzer, Thanasis was tearing up in his post-game interview, saying that he didn’t want the tournament to end.
Did Greece fail? Sure. It was a big failure, considering the roster, the expectations, and the performances prior to the loss to Germany. But in every failure we ought to look at the brighter side, in order to keep improving. That’s not just sports, that’s life. And the brighter side for Greece was the fact that Greeks fell in love with their basketball team again, after many years. You could tell it meant a lot, since more than 5.000 people traveled to Berlin to support the team and sold out arenas for friendly games. As a Greek who happens to be a Bucks supporter, I can’t express how unique it was seeing Bucks fans from all over the world keeping up with the Greek team and rooting for it. And as cool as it could be for Giannis’ legacy being a EuroBasket champion, that might still be in the cards, since Greece will have more opportunities in years to come.
Positives for Giannis
Talking about positives, I can’t help but mention Giannis Antetokounmpo. Antetokounmpo had by far his best performance in a FIBA tournament. He left EuroBasket averaging 29.3 points in 28.3 minutes, plus 8.8 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game. His past struggles in FIBA tournaments was a big talking point coming into the tournament but he showed that he has evolved to a point where no challenge is big enough for him. A strong showing at this level will surely help him in the NBA.
Another positive was his free throw percentage. He shot 78.5% from the stripe on 10.9 attempts per game. That’s 6.3% better than his percentage in the NBA last season. Shooting around this percentage will be huge for years to come, especially now that the NBA’s decision to penalize the transition take foul will see him shooting even more free throws. What wasn’t good though was his 3-point percentage. Shooting 20% on 4.2 attempts per game is less than ideal. He made them in the clutch though, and that only highlights the fact that he’s becoming unstoppable in the final minutes of games. Positive was also the fact that he ended the tournament healthy, without any major health concern down the road.
Ending on a happy note
The journey with the Greek national team was truly amazing. Having the opportunity to talk and write about the Greek team was an amazing experience. I want to thank everyone who read my pieces on Substack and everyone who tuned in to listen to me, Ti Windisch and Rohan Katti talking about Greece and the EuroBasket in general. As I mentioned before, it was very unique feeling the support and the love from Bucks fans all over the world. EuroBasket means a lot to the Europeans and it was very fun sharing the experience. And this EuroBasket had everything: Cinderella runs, upsets, fights, passion, and of course amazing basketball players. I hope you had fun.
With less than 20 days remaining until Bucks basketball is back, I’m now fully into the NBA season mood. Let’s get it!