Greek National Team 2021

[Toruko]

I am a very big fan of Lountzis. Oly made a very good choice. If there is a guard who can be the next EL starting guard of Greeks then its Lountzis.

[fasoulaki]

So I guess the roster will look like the following

PG
Nick Kalathis, Kostas Sloukas

SG
Giannoulis Larentzakis, Dimitris Katsivelis, Michalis Lountzis

SF
Charis Giannopoulos, Leonidas Kaselakis

PF
Linos Chrisikopoulos, Dinos Mitoglou

C
Giorgos Papagiannis, Kostas Adetokumbo, Vasilis Kavadas

[Victorious]

So it seems Greece threw the towel.

Well, a nice tournament for some players to gain some experience. Mitoglou, Kostas, Lountzis. I can see these players coming back next seasons. Together with PG and Sloukas. My only regret is Mouratos not being on the team. I mean, Katsivelis may be just as good or better, but Mouratos could use the experience.

[Toruko]

The 12 players which are included in the team are: (Guards) Nick Calathes, Kostas Sloukas, Dimitris Katsivelis, Giannoulis Larentzakis, (Forwards) Charis Giannopoulos, Nikos Rogkavopoulos, Leonidas Kaselakis, Linos Chrysikopoulos, Dinos Mitoglou, (centers) George Papagiannis, Kostas Antetokounmpo, Vassilis Kavvadas

They selected Katsivelis over my boi Lountzis. Big mistake!

[Victorious]

Wow, Rogkavopoulos. Who would have thought? Pitino went for an extra forward instead of an extra guard.

I am not so sure that this team will manage to beat China actually. That said, I am not sure that Turkey or Czech republic will beat Greece either. Crazy things happen.

I am going to try and look it from the bright side. All the guards are decent. I mean, even Katsivelis has some sort of EL experience as a fourth guard. Giannopoulos is perhaps a better shooter than either Papapetrou, Papanikolaou, Thanassis. So who cares about them, right? Mitoglou can be seen as the young Printezis, right? Sure, now as good yet, but more energized. Rogkavopoulos, Toruko liked him. Perhaps he will prove us right. And then, the centers. Let's face it, they are the best Greece has had in a very long while. PapG and Kostas are tall, mobile, athletic. Bourousis and Koufos would fit more in the 90s style at their current condition. Time to turn the page. And Giannis, it's best he is not part of the team. Makes Greece too predictable, while expectations rise. Yep, we brought a squad for the Olympics.

I am going to take some more blue pills now, make sure I will stay in the Matrix.

[Toruko]

Well, I know how upsetting this can be. I have actually been suffering since Eurobasket 2013 in Slovenia. BTW it was also a very bad Tournament for Greece if I am not mistaken. For me who is not a fan of any team NT tournaments are everything.

Its a bad year for Greece indeed! Greek player are normally very professional and hardly gets injured but if you play so many games during the season and when you are so old like some of the Greek players this can happen. I expected the generational change next season before the Eurobasket 22 but it has happened this summer. The problem I have been following throughout the youth tournaments Greek teams lack big guys. Maybe Fasoulaki or others have insight but this can really be seen in almost every generation.

When I think about the 99 or 00 guys like Arsenopoulos, Kalaitzakis brohs or Moraitis they are all guards. Cant you persuade enough guys to play BB or what is the problem?

[Victorious]

No problem with big guys Toruko. Papagiannis, Kostas are both yet to turn 24. We have material for a whole decade. Best thing I saw from this whole tournament is that Kostas could actually become something good. And then, Mitoglou (25), Giannis (26). Also, Papapetrou (27), Thanassis (28).

The key guards are somewhat older Sloukas (31), Calathes (32). They need to stick around until the next Olympic cycle, at least. But it's good that some young guards are waiting around the corner. Also, Dorsey. I think it would be good for him to play for a Greek team. In that case feel for Greece and NT will surely develop.

The players I mentioned including Papanikolaou (30) would be considered a transition team. Absent Printezis, Spanoulis, Bourousis. Then during next Olympic cycle, some players could retire for a new group. Honestly, age shouldn't be a factor. The best players should play.

The team we assemble this year is an emergency team. But at least they have some experience playing together in qualification games. Perhaps their performance may be decent.

[fasoulaki]

I am not so sure that this team will manage to beat China actually.

Who cares. Lets enjoy the tournament and afterwards an almost COVID free summer.

[fasoulaki]

Something I wanted to mention is that from my point of view Pitino talks too much to the press in a very bloomy language. I dont know what goals he pursues but sometimes if you talk to much you expose yourself and the team. He almost reminds me the famous Trincheri and his allegoric references to greek mythology when talking about games and players. I did not have the impression that this helped by any means back then.

[fasoulaki]

So at the end the tournament had the expected outcome. Greece failed again to qualify for the Olympics in a preolympic tournament outside Greece. It is not the first time this happend since we missed qualification in the past as well.

So whose responsibility was the failure this time?

We were missing key players like Printezis, Papanikoloaou, Papapetrou and Thanassis Antetokoumpo but we have seen this team failing even with these guys included in the roster. Sloukas and Kalathis underperformed in the first quarter of the Turkey and Czech game. So maybe they cannot bear the pressure when they shoulder the team alone. But still in general I enjoyed the way they played.

Pitino wanted Greece to play fast College/NBA style basketball. I understand his calculatio. He wants a team well adapted to Giannis Antetokoumpo. A team which emphasizes his qualities and covers his weaknesses. This is necessary because Giannis does not fit to FIBA basketball at all as became clear in the last World Cup. But I am wondering if it is realy worth the effort to change the whole tradition and the whole character of a team to adapt to a player which will only show up 1 or 2 more times to the Word Cup or Olympics in case of qualification for which other guys have to fight that do not suit NBA style of baskebtall. The "fast playing Greece" is a legend taken out of mythology. Pitino also took some questionable decisions in the 3rd quarter when Greece totally colapsed again. Why the hell Rogkavopoulos an absolute noname without any experience on club and mens international level played 20+ minutes in the final of an olympic qualification tournament? Maybe this was a good investement for the future or maybe not.

At the end the lesson to be learned (again and again) is that other people are playing basketball too and if Greece does not manage to solve its domestic problems with the league, the Pao/Oly squarrel and the federation/goverment fights, greek basketball will continue to decline. But afterall it is just sports and nothing which is of real importance in life. Therefore it's time to focus on real life again and to say goodbye until the next tournament.

[Victorious]

Greece failed to qualify, but Greece didn't fail. They played excellent basketball and at the end of the day they lost to a team which is playing under the same coach for 8 years. While the rooster is arguably just as good or better. Let's face it. Greece's rooster was very thin this time. No coach would have done better with that rooster and limited preparation time.

Now, what is important is that the Federation elects a new president and starts a new project which will take several years. Under the same coach ofcourse.

The great news is that Pitino is still interested in that position. He might just take on a project until the London 2024 Olympics. He is the right man for that. Greece has the talent in order to win a medal. But we need a good coach who has time in order to work on the long project.

[JABroy]

What will be the next steps for the Greek National Team?

Some notes:
1. New coach (my dream is Dimitris Itoudis)
2. Eurobasket ‘22
3. World Championship ‘23
4. Olympics ‘24

I believe it will be a rejuvenated and Giannis-focused team for Big events.

Some thoughts will be:

OUT: Spanoulis ‘82 Zisis ‘83 BOUROUSIS ‘83
PRINTEZIS ‘85 Bramos ‘87

IN: Giannis ‘94 & Thanatis ‘92 & Kostas ‘97 Chrysikopoulos ‘92 Larentzakis ‘93 Mitrou Long ‘93 Auguste ‘93 Papapetrou ‘94 Agravanis ‘94 Dorsey ‘96 Mitoglou ‘96 Koniaris ‘97 Papagiannis ‘97 Rogkavopoulos ‘01

TO EVALUATE: Calathes ‘89 Koufos ‘89 Sloukas ‘90 Mantzaris ‘90 Pappas ‘90 PAPANIKOLAOU ‘90 Kaselakis ‘90 Katsivelis ‘91 Kavvadas ‘91 Alex ANTETOKOUNMPO ‘01 Kalaizakis ‘99

[Toruko]

And what are you trying to say?

[fasoulaki]

What will be the next steps for the Greek National Team?

Some notes:
1. New coach (my dream is Dimitris Itoudis)
2. Eurobasket ‘22
3. World Championship ‘23
4. Olympics ‘24

I believe it will be a rejuvenated and Giannis-focused team for Big events.

Some thoughts will be:

OUT: Spanoulis ‘82 Zisis ‘83 BOUROUSIS ‘83
PRINTEZIS ‘85 Bramos ‘87

IN: Giannis ‘94 & Thanatis ‘92 & Kostas ‘97 Chrysikopoulos ‘92 Larentzakis ‘93 Mitrou Long ‘93 Auguste ‘93 Papapetrou ‘94 Agravanis ‘94 Dorsey ‘96 Mitoglou ‘96 Koniaris ‘97 Papagiannis ‘97 Rogkavopoulos ‘01

TO EVALUATE: Calathes ‘89 Koufos ‘89 Sloukas ‘90 Mantzaris ‘90 Pappas ‘90 PAPANIKOLAOU ‘90 Kaselakis ‘90 Katsivelis ‘91 Kavvadas ‘91 Alex ANTETOKOUNMPO ‘01 Kalaizakis ‘99

First your list should start with "New federation president". The vote is scheduled for this autumn.
Then I guess we will continue to see two national teams. The first for qualification games based on "greek virtues" like defense due to lack of athletism of the available players and one Giannis-centered team for the "big" events playing run&gun. However from my judgement Eurobasket will not be considered as a big event and Giannis will not show up and this is the main problem. Giannis is a bad FIBA player and he needs time to adapt which he will never get if his team is playing in the Finals. All in all I am very pessimistic. I dont see any progress in any field.

[fasoulaki]

So we got a new federation boss. Its Vangelis Liolios. He is a former pediatrist. Owner of the coffe-house brand "coffe island" which according to wikipedia is ranked 6th in whole Europe and president of the basketball club Promitheas Patras. I did not expect this outcome since my bet was on Fassoulas. But maybe due to his his red sport's past as center from Olympiakos and his green political past as PASOK candidate for major in Priaeus he is seen as biased and the vote went to a candiate which is viewed as more neutral. I dont know. Whoever is the boss now has to master many difficult challenges.