Hoopsters return with medals, joy and some precious experience for the national team
The national basketball team returned yesterday afternoon from Poland with the bronze medal it earned at the European Championship in Poland, and was well received by fans and officials. The Greek hoopsters, who saw off Slovenia 57-56 in Sunday’s match for third place in the tournament, expressed their joy at the medal, given the high number of absences Greece had to deal with as well as the fact that half of the squad wearing the national colors was new. Greece’s Lithuanian coach Jonas Kazlauskas, after his first major tournament on the Greek bench, could not hide his satisfaction: «I am proud of these guys and the whole of the national team setup, which supported us from Day One. Greece has once again proven it deserves to be at the top.» The national team has therefore managed to earn its third medal in six years in Eurobasket competition, to say nothing of the precious experience players such as Sofoklis Schortsanitis, Nick Calathes, Costas Koufos and others have gained that will be useful in the future for Greece.
