By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
One of the oldest and more traditional preparation tournaments for FIBA events, the “Acropolis tournament” starts tomorrow in Athens, and in its 31st edition, all eyes will be fixed on OAKA, the Olympic indoor stadium of the Greek capital and the basketball arena, named “Nick Galis Hall”.
Greece is hosting Turkey, Georgia, and Poland and of course, Giannis Antetokounmpo is the star of the show. However, it’s an important tournament for all sides involved, as Georgia is expected to compete with a full roster and the same applies to Turkey which traveled to Athens with naturalized point guard Shane Larkin.
The games start on Wednesday and it will be the last test for all teams before the upcoming official games for the FIBA World Cup qualifiers and of course Eurobasket 2022.
However, one day before the players take center court, a meeting between Greek national team coach Dimitris Itoudis, Turkish national team coach Ergin Ataman and Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer stole the show.
Budenolzer met up with the Greek national team last week in Madrid and continues his tour following Giannis in Greece, while Itoudis has already admitted that he will work together with coach Bud on his quest to fully take advantage of what Antetokounmpo can provide on the court.
Still, the meeting with Ataman, since Budenholzer was watching the Greek national team practice, made things more interesting. Ataman has won back-to-back EuroLeague titles in 2021 and 2022, Itoudis has also won the EuroLeague twice with CSKA Moscow, winning his last title in 2019 against Ataman and Anadolu Efes, while Budenholzer won the NBA title with the Bucks in 2021. It was a real meeting of the champs.
Meanwhile, the Greek national team announced that Dimitris Moraitis and Ioannis Kouzeloglou are the two latest cuts from the roster.