Greek NT 2017

[JGX]

That's like six turnovers a game that Greece needs to replace. Who will step up?

[Victorious]

That's like six turnovers a game that Greece needs to replace. Who will step up?

Even though Papaloukas, Diamantidis, Spanoulis and Zisis are almost irreplaceable in European terms. Calathes, Sloukas, Pappas, Mantzaris are a good quartet for international bball I would say. Let's see what this group of players can do for the next 8 years or so. While Antetokoumpo can bring up the ball as well. I think the guard position will be fine. Don't know about the center position though.

[JABroy]

Hi all,
for me these are the best 10 greek players available for the National Team (Zisis and Spanoulis are withdrawn), RIGHT NOW:

Calathes '89,Mantzaris '90
Sloukas '90,Perperoglou '84
Giannis Antetokounmpo '94,Papanikolaou '90
Printezis '85,Papapetrou '94
Koufos '89,Bourousis '83

To choose the last two players for to make the roster, it depends on what DIMITRIOS ITOUDIS (He's official???) wants:
EXPERIENCE (Pappas '90-Panathinaikos; Athinaiou '88-Olympiakos; Kaimokoglou '83-Kazan; Bogris '89-Tenerife ACB; Mavrokefalidis '84-AEK Athens) or
FUTURE (Dorsey '96- Oregon NCAA; Mitoglou '96- Wake Forest NCAA; Papagiannis '97- Sacramento NBA) or PURE AHTLETICISM (Thanasis Antetokounmpo '92- Andorra ACB) or A MIX OF THESE SKILLS!!!

FOR THE FUTURE: we don't forget that Aleksandar Vezenkov '95- Barcellona has took Greek Passport on 2015; and the athletic Zach Auguste '93 will take Greek Passport in the next months...
MAYBE THEY WILL BE "NATURALIZED", SO ONLY ONE OF THES THREE PLAYERS (Dorsey, Vezenkov, Auguste) WILL PLAY IN THE GREEK NATIONAL TEAM?

Other young greek players to watch in the next years, but not ready RIGHT NOW, are in my opinion:
Michalis Lountzis '98 (Panathinaikos)
Eleftherios Bochoridis '94 (Panathinaikos)
Vasilis Charalampopoulos '97 (Panathinaikos)
Kostas Antetokounmpo '97 (Dayton NCAA 2017/2018)
Dimitrios Agravanis '94 (Olympiakos)
Georgios Tsalmpouris '96 (AEK Athens)
Vassilis Kavvadas '91 (Bilbao ACB)

Do I have forgotten some interesting young players?
Thanks,

Look to the future: could you imagine a National Team on 2020 Olympics with
STARTING FIVE: Dorsey, Giannis Ant, Kostas Ant, Thanatis Ant, Auguste
BENCH: Calathes, Mantzaris, Sloukas, Papanikolaou, Papapetrou, Koufos, Papagiannis
OTHER: Lountzis, Charalampopoulos, Agravanis

[Victorious]

Hi all,
for me these are the best 10 greek players available for the National Team (Zisis and Spanoulis are withdrawn), RIGHT NOW:

Calathes '89,Mantzaris '90
Sloukas '90,Perperoglou '84
Giannis Antetokounmpo '94,Papanikolaou '90
Printezis '85,Papapetrou '94
Koufos '89,Bourousis '83

To choose the last two players for to make the roster, it depends on what DIMITRIOS ITOUDIS (He's official???) wants:
EXPERIENCE (Pappas '90-Panathinaikos; Athinaiou '88-Olympiakos; Kaimokoglou '83-Kazan; Bogris '89-Tenerife ACB; Mavrokefalidis '84-AEK Athens) or
FUTURE (Dorsey '96- Oregon NCAA; Mitoglou '96- Wake Forest NCAA; Papagiannis '97- Sacramento NBA) or PURE AHTLETICISM (Thanasis Antetokounmpo '92- Andorra ACB) or A MIX OF THESE SKILLS!!!

FOR THE FUTURE: we don't forget that Aleksandar Vezenkov '95- Barcellona has took Greek Passport on 2015; and the athletic Zach Auguste '93 will take Greek Passport in the next months...
MAYBE THEY WILL BE "NATURALIZED", SO ONLY ONE OF THES THREE PLAYERS (Dorsey, Vezenkov, Auguste) WILL PLAY IN THE GREEK NATIONAL TEAM?

Other young greek players to watch in the next years, but not ready RIGHT NOW, are in my opinion:
Michalis Lountzis '98 (Panathinaikos)
Eleftherios Bochoridis '94 (Panathinaikos)
Vasilis Charalampopoulos '97 (Panathinaikos)
Kostas Antetokounmpo '97 (Dayton NCAA 2017/2018)
Dimitrios Agravanis '94 (Olympiakos)
Georgios Tsalmpouris '96 (AEK Athens)
Vassilis Kavvadas '91 (Bilbao ACB)

Do I have forgotten some interesting young players?
Thanks,

Look to the future: could you imagine a National Team on 2020 Olympics with
STARTING FIVE: Dorsey, Giannis Ant, Kostas Ant, Thanatis Ant, Auguste
BENCH: Calathes, Mantzaris, Sloukas, Papanikolaou, Papapetrou, Koufos, Papagiannis
OTHER: Lountzis, Charalampopoulos, Agravanis

Excellent analysis. You just summed everything up. A few notes, I don't think that either Auguste or Dorsey will count as naturalized due to their Greek lineage through their mothers. Also, CSKA did not allow Itoudis to be the coach of the NT, so the Greece is still without a coach.

As for the roster, I think Pappas is pretty much a lock too. Without him Greece only has three guards; Sloukas, Mantzaris and Calathes, as Perperoglou is not a real guard. So that pretty much leaves one spot. My bet is that this will go to Papagiannis.

As for some other players, like Thanassis, Bogris, Charalampopoulos. They will probably be on the extended roster and play an important role during the WC qualification games after Eurobasket. This is my take on it.

[yianis]

We have a coach

Kostas Missas a former junior national team coach has been chosen. He is the 4th choice after the first three rejected approaches for various reasons.
Also mentioned are players likely to be invited.
They are guards, Calathes, Sloukas, Mantzaris,Pappas. Dorsey might not be a result of his commitments ie summer league after being drafted.
Forwards both Antek bros, Agravanis, Papanikolaou, Printezis,Papapetrou and possibly Perperoglou.
Centres Bourousis, Koufos, Papagiannis and possibly Bogris.
Alot of depth and quality there if they all make themselves available.

[mojo13]

Kostas Missas a former junior national team coach has been chosen. He is the 4th choice after the first three rejected approaches for various reasons.
Also mentioned are players likely to be invited.
They are guards, Calathes, Sloukas, Mantzaris,Pappas. Dorsey might not be a result of his commitments ie summer league after being drafted.
Forwards both Antek bros, Agravanis, Papanikolaou, Printezis,Papapetrou and possibly Perperoglou.
Centres Bourousis, Koufos, Papagiannis and possibly Bogris.
Alot of depth and quality there if they all make themselves available.

You guys have Naz Long on your radar at all? Could be the young SG you are looking for. Canadian out of Iowa St who is positioning himself for a Greek passport to give him better professional options. He has distant Greek heritage. If Doresy somehow counts as Greek I think Long does too. A couple years ago he added his Greek family name. Goes by Naz Mitrou-Long now.
He is playing well in NBA summer league right now, great 3pt shooter which I think Greece is lacking right?

It's amazing how these kids discover their distant Greek heritage once the realizes the financial value it could have to their professional career if they are not quite good enough for the NBA.

[yianis]

You guys have Naz Long on your radar at all? Could be the young SG you are looking for. Canadian out of Iowa St who is positioning himself for a Greek passport to give him better professional options. He has distant Greek heritage. If Doresy somehow counts as Greek I think Long does too. A couple years ago he added his Greek family name. Goes by Naz Mitrou-Long now.
He is playing well in NBA summer league right now, great 3pt shooter which I think Greece is lacking right?

It's amazing how these kids discover their distant Greek heritage once the realizes the financial value it could have to their professional career if they are not quite good enough for the NBA.

Last I read similar to what you stated earlier is Long was trying to obtain a Greek Passport. If i see anything further about him and possible selection to the Greek team I will post here.
As for all these players finding their Greek heritage, almost everyone in the western world has alittle Greek in them 😉 maybe Greece should scout further afield ☺

[mojo13]

Last I read similar to what you stated earlier is Long was trying to obtain a Greek Passport. If i see anything further about him and possible selection to the Greek team I will post here.
As for all these players finding their Greek heritage, almost everyone in the western world has alittle Greek in them �� maybe Greece should scout further afield ☺

It is a nice advantage to have over other countries!

Almost as nice as the immigrant talent that USA, Canada, Brazil and other new world counties benefit from. But Greece has a little of that too

Is Naz Long good enough to be part of the Greek NT program? I never thought he was that important to Canada, maybe a peripheral player that would be helpful when all the NBA/EL talent is banned from playing. But not likely in our top 20 player pool. But I have to admit he seems to be getting better and better each year, and could be breaking through to that group.

I am still uncertain if his allegiance is to Greece or Canada. I really think the Greek thing is more about $$$ and the ability to play in Europe/Greece without being an import. Same with Doresy for that matter too - if he sticks in the NBA I am doubtful he ever plays for Greece.

[R1ou]

Greek NT 2017

Greece announced 16-man preliminary roster:

PG:
Nick Calathes
Vangelis Mantzaris

SG:
Kostas Sloukas
Nikos Pappas
Tyler Dorsey*

SF:
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Kostas Papanikolaou
Ioannis Papapetrou
Thanasis Antetokounmpo

PF:
Giorgos Printezis
Dimitris Agravanis
Kostantinos Mitoglou

C:
Giannis Bourousis
Giorgos Papagiannis
Giorgos Bogris
Zach Auguste


Koufos and Perperoglou will be missing due to injuries.

*He was called up just to make it clear that he will be a part of the team in the future, this year he is not going to show up but it was more or less known.

[CoachZ]

Uh, a lot of quality players here but I see a problem with making this squad gel well to play at the highest level. Also I see an issue with shooting, that can be a big problem. Not a single accomplished pure-shooter in the whole roster.

I guess defensively you could be very formidable (a bit vulnerable at C vs PnR) and should be able to run transition at a very high level.

[R1ou]

Uh, a lot of quality players here but I see a problem with making this squad gel well to play at the highest level. Also I see an issue with shooting, that can be a big problem. Not a single accomplished pure-shooter in the whole roster.

I guess defensively you could be very formidable (a bit vulnerable at C vs PnR) and should be able to run transition at a very high level.

Shouting has always been a problem of Greece, missing Perperoglou (and sortly Dorsey) doesn't help either and he's a bigger absence than people might think. On the other hand most of these guys play along each other at their respective clubs and the big majority of them have played together in youth tournaments under the current coach. There could be issues with the team chemistry but I'm more worried on how we'll top the group and therefore possibly avoid Serbia in the quarterfinals

[yianis]

It is a nice advantage to have over other countries!

Almost as nice as the immigrant talent that USA, Canada, Brazil and other new world counties benefit from. But Greece has a little of that too

Is Naz Long good enough to be part of the Greek NT program? I never thought he was that important to Canada, maybe a peripheral player that would be helpful when all the NBA/EL talent is banned from playing. But not likely in our top 20 player pool. But I have to admit he seems to be getting better and better each year, and could be breaking through to that group.

I am still uncertain if his allegiance is to Greece or Canada. I really think the Greek thing is more about $$$ and the ability to play in Europe/Greece without being an import. Same with Doresy for that matter too - if he sticks in the NBA I am doubtful he ever plays for Greece.

I haven't read of plans to have Long in the team anytime soon, things though can change quickly in Greek basketball depending on availability of players.

On another note Konstantinos Mitoglou looks to be part of the final 16 anyone seen much of him whats his potential?

[Oly_fan]

Mantzaris-Sloukas-Giannis-Printezis-Bourousis have better than ok shooting and great presence inside.
They should be on the floor together for 20-25 minutes at least.

Then we can play Calathes-Papanikolaou-Thanasis-Agravanis-Auguste and make it a pointless game in the 15 minutes remaining.

[DrChe]

Greece announced 16-man preliminary roster:

PG:
Nick Calathes
Vangelis Mantzaris

SG:
Kostas Sloukas
Nikos Pappas
Tyler Dorsey*

SF:
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Kostas Papanikolaou
Ioannis Papapetrou
Thanasis Antetokounmpo

PF:
Giorgos Printezis
Dimitris Agravanis
Kostantinos Mitoglou

C:
Giannis Bourousis
Giorgos Papagiannis
Giorgos Bogris
Zach Auguste


Koufos and Perperoglou will be missing due to injuries.

*He was called up just to make it clear that he will be a part of the team in the future, this year he is not going to show up but it was more or less known.

Very good roster. SG/SF is the key in my opinion.

[fasoulaki]

Seems that Koufos will not be part of the team this year. This will defenetively not help our chronic problem on the center position. Lets see what impact Papagiannis and Bogris will have in the team this year?