National basketball team has its eye on an Olympic berth
Greece enters the Olympic qualification tournament in basketball today as the favorite. The first game is on at 10 p.m. at the OAKA Sports Center against Lebanon, with the second one set for Wednesday against Brazil. The winner of the group will then play the runner-up of Group B featuring Germany, New Zealand and Cape Verde. The winner of Group B will play the runner-up of Group A. Greece eventually needs to capture one of the top three spots in the 12-team tournament. Coach Panayiotis Yiannakis has tried to shake off the «favorite» tag, arguing that anything can happen. «I want everyone to be careful; basketball has become very important across the world and we must concentrate on the Lebanon game,» he said. «We are trying to improve on our speed, both in defense and in attack, and we are on the right track. In the friendly games up to now we have made several unforced errors that have created some nervousness. We are slowly correcting them, though, and I believe we will be ready to face the Olympic qualification challenge,» said Yiannakis. The other games scheduled for today are New Zealand vs Cape Verde (1 p.m.), South Korea vs Slovenia (3.30 p.m.) and Croatia vs Cameroon (7.30 p.m.).
