Greece on FIBA crossroads

Although Greece made it to this year’s FIBA World Cup through the back door as a wildcard entry, it can hardly be considered a pushover and this early, the Greeks are being touted as Argentina’s closest rivals in the race to the top of Group B in the preliminaries in Seville starting Aug. 30.

Argentina, Greece, Croatia, Puerto Rico, Senegal and the Philippines are bracketed in Group B. Three wins will guarantee a ticket to the knockout round-of-16. A tiebreak using the quotient system will determine which team to disqualify in a three-way tie for third with 2-3 records and which two teams to strike out in a three-way tie for fourth with 1-4 marks. For the Philippines to advance with two wins, one team must finish with just one win and another with no win. That way, Gilas will wind up fourth in Group B and move on to the round-of-16 against the Group A No. 1, likely Spain, in Madrid.

Greece will open its World Cup campaign against Senegal on Aug. 30 then battles the Philippines on Aug. 31, Puerto Rico on Sept. 1, Croatia on Sept. 3 and Argentina on Sept. 4. Greece failed to qualify outright for the World Cup by missing the quarterfinal cut at the FIBA Europe Championships last year and joined Turkey, Finland and Brazil as other wildcard entries.

One man is expected to turn things around for Greece in Spain and he’s Milwaukee Bucks rookie shooting guard Giannis Antetokounmpo. Hoop Magazine, in the March/April 2014 issue, said, “there isn’t a rookie in the league with more interest surrounding him than Antetokounmpo …. The same can probably be said for his potential, too…whether, it’s his hands, measuring out to just shy of 15 inches long, a 7-3 wingspan to complement his 6-10 frame (the 19-year-old has grown over an inch since being drafted by the Bucks last June) or the way he can cover the court in the blink of an eye, everything about Antetokounmpo is intriguing, it doesn’t hurt that he has embraced every part of his first year in the NBA with an unabashed excitement that feels like a breath of fresh air.”

After joining the Bucks, Antetokounmpo moved his family from Greece to Milwaukee, bringing along his parents, two younger brothers and an older brother Thanasis who is now playing basketball for the Delaware 87ers in the NBA D-League.

Last year, Antetokounmpo suited up for Greece at the U20 European Championships in Estonia and averaged 8.0 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.4 blocked shots. Despite his dominating presence, Antetokounmpo couldn’t lift Greece to the semifinals. He scored only five points in a 82-60 loss to Spain and Greece eventually placed fifth. “It was a nice experience but I’m a little bit angry, disappointed from my appearance there so I want to go back and play hard this year,” he said. “I’m excited to play (in Spain), I hope I will play. First of all, it’s pride and to go out there and play hard for your country. People respect you. I grew up in Greece and I want to play for the Greek national team. My goal is to win the FIBA World Cup.”

Greek Basketball Federation director of coaching Kostas Missas recently went to the US to confer with Antetokounmpo and Nick Calathes and Kosta Koufos, both of the Memphis Grizzlies. “There was a very good, positive contact and it turned into substantive discussions with all three,” said Missas quoted in the fiba.com website. Both Calathes and Koufos are national team veterans.

Antetokounmpo was born in Athens to Nigerian parents and received his Greek citizenship in May last year. He averaged 6.8 points and 4.4 rebounds in 77 games, including 23 starts, with the Bucks this season. Calathes, 25, was born in Florida and was Minnesota’s second round pick in the 2009 NBA draft. The 6-6 forward averaged 4.9 points in 71 games with the Grizzlies this campaign. Koufos, 25, was Utah’s first round pick in 2008 and has played for the Jazz, Minnesota, Denver and Memphis in a six-year NBA career. The 7-0 center from Ohio State averaged 6.4 points and 5.2 rebounds in 80 games with Memphis this season. Both Calathes and Koufos are Greek-Americans.

“The good thing about Koufos and Calathes is that they are fighting in a team with many good players and have tough competition and every minute of participation improves the players significantly,” said Missas. “What is a certainty is that Giannis considers it an honor to wear the shirt with the (Greek) emblem this summer. Giannis is a youngster with amazing athletic skills who puts a lot of energy on the court and there is no doubt that the playing time he has gotten in the NBA has done a lot of good. He is a huge asset for Greek basketball and his desire to take part with the national team is admirable. However, we must not forget that with the national team, first you need time to adapt to a totally different game than the free basketball he’s accustomed to with Milwaukee.”

Italian Andrea Trinchieri, 46, is expected to call the shots for Greece in Spain. Aside from the three NBA cagers in the Greek wish list, others being tapped to play for the national team are 31-year-old, 6-4 former Houston Rockets guard Vassilis Spanoulis, 6-10 former Memphis Grizzlies forward Antonis Fotsis and 7-0 Real Madrid center Ioannis Bourisis. Greece was second at the 2006 World Cup in Saitama, European champion in 2005 and European third place in 2009.

The Greeks hope to outdo Lithuania as a wildcard entry. At the 2010 World Cup in Turkey, Lithuania was “only” a wildcard invitee but went all the way to the Final Four, capturing a bronze medal in the end. Greece is one of five teams that Gilas will play in the World Cup preliminaries with coach Chot Reyes realizing the Philippines must unravel more than its A-game to score an upset.