Olympic Team Profile: Greece
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World runner-up Greece will look to cap a dominant four-years on the world basketball scene with its first Olympic medal starting next week in Beijing. After finishing fifth at home in Athens in the Summer Olympic four years ago, Greece won the 2005 European championship and was the runner-up at the 2006 world championships. The architect of it all, head coach Panagiotis Giannakis, brings back half of his roster from the previous Olympics and two-thirds of the players from the world championships in a well-rounded and experienced squad featuring five current or former Euroleague champions, including former Euroleague MVP Theo Papaloukas, former All-Euroleague guard Vassilis Spanoulis and perennial Best Defender trophy winner Dimitris Diamantidis. As usual, Papaloukas, Diamantidis and Spanoulis will lead the Greek backcourt, while Antonis Fotsis, Sofoklis Schortsianitis and Ioannis Bouroussis are the backbone of the frontcourt as Greece looks for Olympic glory.
Papaloukas is coach Giannakis’s floor general coming off the Greek bench.
# | Name | Pos. | H. | 4 | Theo Papaloukas | G | 200 | 5 | Ioannis Bouroussis | C | 211 | 6 | Nikos Zisis | G | 197 | 7 | Vassilis Spanoulis | G | 192 | 8 | Panagiotis Vassilopoulos | F | 203 | 9 | Antonis Fotsis | F | 208 | 10 | Giorgos Printezis | F | 206 | 11 | Andreas Gliniadakis | C | 215 | 12 | Kostas Tsartsaris | F | 208 | 13 | Dimitris Diamantidis | G | 198 | 14 | Sofoklis Schortsanitis | F | 206 | 15 | Michalis Pelekanos | F | 197 | | Head Coach: Panagiotis Giannakis |
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His unique combination of size, court vision, leadership and experience turns him into one of the best playmakers in the world. His perfect complement is Diamantidis, an outstanding defender who can stop anybody with his speed and long arms. He is also a reliable clutch player who always gives 110% on court. Spanoulis offers his all-around scoring skills: He is unstoppable in one-on-one situations and can shoot with unlimited range. Young veteran Nikos Zisis provides deep range and determination and Michalis Pelekanos is a very intense player at both ends, especially in defense.
Coach Giannakis counts on a versatile frontcourt, with three players able to help at both forward spots. Fotsis is right at the prime of his career and shined at the Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Fast, athletic and shooting better than ever, Fotsis can be a dominant player at the Olympics. Panos Vasilopoulos is a talented forward able to take the outside shot or power the boards, while Giorgios Printezis offers a unique combination of aggressiveness, talent and size. Veteran forward Kostas Tsartsaris is a blue-collar defender who will be always ready to hit the occasional three-pointer. As usual, if Schortsianitis is in shape, he is one of the most unstoppable players in the world, as he showed in the 2006 World Championships. His size, power, strength and mobility will shock those that never saw him play. Bouroussis is an outstanding rebounder with a key role in the team, while Andreas Glyniadakis is set to offer size and defense off the Greek bench. If Papaloukas and Diamantidis are inspired and Schortsianitis is at his best, Greece will have no limits in Beijing.
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Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Euroleague.net
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