Greece hoopsters on the rise
Greece defeated Puerto Rico 93-86 on Saturday and won the friendly «Supercup» basketball tournament in Germany, while tonight it enters the Acropolis Cup in Athens. The national basketball team is preparing for the Olympic qualification tournament and in its second friendly of the summer relied mostly on its attack, scoring an impressive 61 points in the first half (61-49). In the first friendly on Friday, in the same tournament, Greece beat Slovenia, relying more on its defense (79-71). In both games Antonis Fotsis was the top scorer, with 17 points in each. Against Puerto Rico, he was closely followed by fellow Panathinaikos star Vassilis Spanoulis with 16 points. Crucially, Greece saw the impressive return of Sofoklis Schortsanitis, the Olympiakos center, who scored 14 points against Puerto Rico and provided glimpses of his past self. Over 200 Greek fans were in the stands in Bamberg and cheered on the national side, making the players feel more at home. Puerto Rico did worry the Greeks at some point in the last period, closing the gap to just six points (82-76), but Greece responded with 12 unanswered points to put the game beyond its opponent. «There were some lapses of concentration, but the first impression we have of the team is that they are willing to play and day by day they will improve in terms of concentration and efficiency,» said national coach Panayiotis Yiannakis. «We played with two teams that have a different style of play and it is important that we did not lose our cool when Puerto Rico were good at scoring and took the game to a high score. At any rate we managed to control the rhythm of the game. We are always harsh on ourselves and we know we have to work harder to become better,» he added. Greece flew home yesterday and tonight begins its games for the Acropolis Cup against strong sides such as Brazil, Australia and Croatia. Speaking at a press conference ahead of the Cup in Athens, Yiannakis invited fans to attend the event as «this team has achieved so many things in the last few years and has made people proud.» Hellenic Basketball Federation head Andreas Miaoulis said that «the Acropolis Cup is a dress rehearsal for us ahead of the Olympic qualification tournament, with the national team and three esteemed guest sides. I promise them that they will enjoy the best possible hospitality, despite the… heat wave that is coming to this country.» The first match of the tournament at the OAKA Sports Center sees Australia take on Croatia (7 p.m.) and then Greece clashes with Brazil (10 p.m., live on NET). Yiannakis’s men face Australia tomorrow and Croatia on Wednesday. Greece will also play Brazil next week in the group stage of the Olympic qualification tournament. The event is scheduled July 14-20 at the same venue, with the top three teams earning their tickets to Beijing.
