Greece beat each single staff that was positioned in entrance of them throughout their qualification journey to the Paris Video games, which can begin on the finish of the month, and now Giannis Antekounmpo and his teammates are Olympians. The Bucks star led his nation together with his 23-point efficiency towards Croatia on Sunday, in one of many 4 males’s basketball match finals to find out the ultimate spots.
Alongside together with his MVP exhibition, teammates Georgios Papagiannis and Nick Calathes dropped 19 and 14 respectively to earn Greece’s Olympic berth for the primary time since 2008. “It’s very good to qualify as a result of that’s step one,” Papagiannis shared. “On the Olympics, we’re seeking to do one thing actually good there.”
Now that the majority nations have certified for the large phases, the staff from the Mediterranean will be part of the USA, France, Germany, Japan, Serbia, South Sudan, Canada and Australia. Whereas France certified because the host nation, the opposite seven squads made the listing based mostly on their performances in final summer season’s FIBA World Cup.
What a day for Greece! 🇬🇷
Giannis Antetokounmpo was in tears after main his nation to the Olympic males’s basketball competitors for the primary time since 2008.
(through @FIBA) pic.twitter.com/DwDcloANj0
— NBC Sports activities (@NBCSports) July 7, 2024
Giannis’s journey beginning with him scoring 32 factors towards the Dominican Republic, then 13 towards Slovenia, a well-deserved relaxation towards Egypt, then successful an intense semifinal conflict towards Luka Doncic’s Slovenia, and at last this Sunday towards Croatia.
“We knew that we had the chance to do one thing we hadn’t executed for years. We got here in, realizing we had 4 finals to play. I’m comfortable about how the video games went,” mentioned the 29-year-old famous person after successful the ultimate.
The Milwaukee participant couldn’t conceal his pleasure as soon as the sport was over. “We’re very hungry as a staff. The ambiance is unbelievable. Everyone’s having enjoyable with each other, all people’s locked in, and know their roles. We have now an especially good chief. Coach Vasilis Spanoulis places that fireside in our bellies and provides us one of the best tactic to compete,” he assured.
“Now, going into the Olympics, I feel one of the best athletes on the earth will compete there. We have now nothing to lose. We simply must play Greek basketball and provides the whole lot that we now have, irrespective of who we play towards. I imagine we now have an unimaginable staff and that we will accomplish one thing particular,” Antetokounmpo shared.
The NBA star expressed his admiration for his coach Vasilis Spanoulis, who occurs to be his idol since he was rising up in Greece
Along with his coach sitting subsequent to him through the postgame interviews, Giannis was requested what he has discovered from Vasilis Spanoulis, who’s a EuroLeague legend that might be returning to the Olympics as a tactician this time, as a substitute as a participant in 2008.
The Bucks star began by making an enormous distinction. “All of the coaches I’ve had within the nationwide staff have been unimaginable as coaches and minds and I respect them very a lot,” he began out. “However coach Spanoulis is a winner and you may’t educate that. It’s both you’re a winner otherwise you’re not. He needs to win greater than us. It’s best to have seen him in right this moment’s shootaround. He was actually operating up and down. You would have given him a jersey and he might have performed the sport.”
Greece has now earned a spot in Group A of the Olympic Video games in Paris, and can face Australia, Canada and both Spain of Bahamas within the group stage of the competitors.
Antetokounmpo feels assured with Spanoulis on his facet. “I simply love that I’ve someone like him subsequent to me and he is aware of I do no matter I can to win,” the 29-year-old assured. “I don’t bullshit, I don’t cheat the sport. His identification goes by way of the entire staff. Now, we now have 12 gamers like that and after we go to the court docket, we play with that successful mentality.”
