2008 Greek Olympics Basketball Team

Lakers_4_Life · Post #1 » by **Lakers_4_Life** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 8:33 pm

Roster:

Players and head coach that are in bold print were also part of the 2005 team that won the European Championship and the 2006 team that finished 2nd in the World Championship (including defeating the USA in the semifinal.)

*Bouroussis was only on the 2005 European Championship team and Schortsanitis was only on the 2006 World Championship runner-up team.

PG Dimitris Diamantidis 6-6 210
PG Theo Papaloukas 6-7 215

SG Vassilis Spanoulis 6-4 205
SG Nikos Zisis 6-5 210

SF Panagiotis Vassilopoulos 6-8 225
SF Michalis Pelekanos 6-6 215
SF Giorgos Printezis 6-9 225

PF Antonis Fotsis 6-10 240
PF Kostas Tsartsaris 6-10 250

C Yiannis Bouroussis 6-11 250*
C Sofoklis Schortsanitis 6-10 375*
C Andreas Glyniadakis 7-1 280

Head coach: Panagiotis Giannakis

Greece 2008 record: 9-0

Average margin of victory: 20.3 points per game

Game 1:

Greece 79 - Slovenia 71

Game 2:

Greece 93 - Puerto Rico 87

Greece led by 19 points in the first half and the bench played the rest of the way.

Game 3:

Greece 72 - Brazil 65

Greece led by 28 points in the first half and the bench played the rest of the way.

Game 4:

Greece 89 - Australia 69

Game 5:

Greece 77 - Croatia 64

Greece led by 23 points in the first half and the bench played the rest of the way.

Game 6:

Greece 119 - Lebanon 62

57 point win.

Game 7:

Greece 89 - Brazil 69

Game 8:

Greece 75 - New Zealand 48

Game 9:

Greece 88 - Puerto Rico 63

This team is going to be a MAJOR threat to the USA at the Olympics.

EvadedHavoc · Post #2 » by **EvadedHavoc** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 11:19 pm

Not this year!

Team USA is gonna take home the gold!

Lakers_4_Life · Post #3 » by **Lakers_4_Life** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 12:02 am

EvadedHavoc wrote:Not this year!

Team USA is gonna take home the gold!

At the pre-Olympic tournament where they played their key players more they averaged a +32.5 points per game scoring differential. Even Team USA would be impressed by that kind of domination.

Greek · Post #4 » by **Greek** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 7:03 am

Wow finally a Greek NT that i actually enjoy the way that is playing. By far the most athletic squat that we ever had. 4 blockers on same team?? never happened again. I think that this year Greek NT we will win some neutral fans, couz of the style of game. Also is amazing how choach Yiannakis is developing. Legend as a player legend as a coach, what a blessed man!

Rasho Brezec · Post #5 » by **Rasho Brezec** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 10:08 am

Greek wrote:Wow finally a Greek NT that i actually enjoy the way that is playing. By far the most athletic squat that we ever had. 4 blockers on same team?? never happened again. I think that this year Greek NT we will win some neutral fans, couz of the style of game. Also is amazing how choach Yiannakis is developing. Legend as a player legend as a coach, what a blessed man!

How much more can he develop? He is already one of the best coaches of all-time.

Lakers_4_Life · Post #6 » by **Lakers_4_Life** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 2:43 pm

There is a new nickname going around for Giannakis. "The Dream Coach". It would not surprise me in a few years to see an NBA team offer him some insanely huge contract.

Point forward · Post #7 » by **Point forward** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 6:29 pm

The player I fear most is Diamantidis. He is the FIBA version of prime Gary Payton. Playing vs him is like trying to wade through waist deep snow.

Greek · Post #8 » by **Greek** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 5:43 am

Point forward wrote:The player I fear most is Diamantidis. He is the FIBA version of prime Gary Payton. Playing vs him is like trying to wade through waist deep snow.

When Dirk asked witch Greek player would like to play with, his answer was Diamantidis

Lakers_4_Life · Post #9 » by **Lakers_4_Life** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 6:14 pm

Point forward wrote:The player I fear most is Diamantidis. He is the FIBA version of prime Gary Payton. Playing vs him is like trying to wade through waist deep snow.

Diamantidis is the best perimeter defender in the world. It's a shame hardly anyone in the US has even heard of him. The 4 point guard rotation of Zisis, Diamantidis, Papaloukas, Spanoulis is a nightmare for most teams. Hell when they beat the US in 2006 Greece didn't even have Zisis because of that Varejao elbow.