RealGM

Hey guys, for those that follow the national team, do you know whats going on with it this year? Just moved to a place with free wi-fi and lets say I know why it's free, it feels like dial-up when it even works. Anyway, I know Greece has been a top rated team the last decade or so but I'm hearing disturbing news for this year and I have not been able to look up info on it. But was told that both Olympiakos and Panathinaikos were going to disallow it's players from participating in the World Championships as they are afraid of them getting hurt and dont have the insurance. Being the team underacheived last time around at the Euro's this would be a big blow to the roster. I did hear stateside that the Bucks wanted Giannis to play the summer league, missing the U20 championships and trying to earn a spot on the men's team. Don't know if Thanasis has been made a citizen or if Koufos and Calathes will participate.

So with whats know, what will this years squad look like. Do they have a chance to place for a medal or will they stink?

Koufos backed out today. Katsikaris will never invite him again as long as he's coach.
Spanoulis won't play because of injuries.
Mavrokefalidis and Schortsianitis didn't want to come.
Fotsis it looks like didn't get invited.
Calathes has been invited but we don't know if FIBA will even let him play because of his doping scandal.
Thanasis didn't get invited, which I view as a mistake.

The team right now is:
Athinaiou
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Vasiliadis
Vougoukas
Jankovic
Zisis
Kaimakoglou
Calathes
Mantzaris
Bogris
Bourousis
Papanikolaou
Printezis
Sloukas
Tsairelis


Won't be too hard to come up with a 12-man team, but we are not in much of a position to compete for a medal.

What happened between Koufos and the coach? To this day I cant see how the omospondia sits back and lets coach grudges keep players from being on the team. The guy may not be a star in the NBA but he's shown to be a very quality center who could help against the Euro bigs. I also recall the Greek Federation had put in a clause that said all players invited had to attend otherwise face suspension. Did they do away with that? This was many years ago when most of the players would rather spend their summers at the beach than play for their country. It was quite a stink at the time.

The Calathes suspension still stinks. Guy gets a huge suspension over something that was in a legal supplement that was unclear. Seems the only guys they have nailed for this is Calathes, Hedo and Rashard, yet none of the guys on rhoids that are stars have been 'caught'. It would bs if the NBA ban affected FIBA.

Koufos changed his mind last minute, and thats the reason Katsikaris got mad. He accepted the invitation first, and shortly after he decided not to join the NT saying that hes entering his contract year and that his knees are not 100%.

Anyway, the final twelve probably will be

PG: Calathes, Mantzaris
SG: Zisis, Sloukas, Vasileiadis
SF: Papanikolaou, Antetokounmpo
PF: Printezis, Kaimakoglou
C: Bourousis, Vougioukas, Bogris

they are no good

Any Greek fans tell me about Chrysikopoulos. Is he progressing? Is he on the radar for the national team?

Seems like a very intriguing player from what I've seen, albeit very little.

I like Linos, but he needs to make a jump soon from potential to actual talent.

Tsairelis got cut from Katsikaris' team. I expect Athinaiou and Jankovic to follow suit soon.

We've looked okay considering we've played without Calathes and Printezis (who is only worthwhile when motivated which we need him to be this time).

Our center depth scares me. Bourousis needs to be healthy AND stay out of the foul trouble. Vougoukas has been okay but he's too slow. Bogris I like but he's not ready to bang around with more experienced guys.

Thanasis didn't make the team?