By Stavros Barbarousis / info@eurohoops.net
Nearly six years since Greece’s last game in the 2015 EuroBasket, Vassilis Spanoulis and Rick Pitino have reached an agreement and the veteran guard is expected to make his long-awaited return to the squad this summer.
Pitino and Spanoulis met on Thursday and discussed thoroughly about the upcoming Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Canada and the 39-year-old guard finally agreed to return for one “last dance”.
Spanoulis has won the silver medal in the 2006 World Championship, gold in the 2005 Eurobasket and bronze in that of 2009, while he counts 146 participations with a total of 1.494 points.
In the meantime, Rick Pitino will not count on Tyler Dorsey and Kosta Koufos. Dorsey left Maccabi last week to return to the United States and his return to Greece to prepare with the NT seems unlikely as the talks between the two sides didn’t reach a positive outcome. As for Koufos, he has been in the conversation to join the team, though he is expected to remain out of Rick Pitino’s calls.
On the NBA front, both Giannis and Thanassis Antetokounmpo are on Rick Pitino’s list, though it all depends on the Bucks‘ course in the NBA playoffs, while Thanassis is currently sidelined with an injury.