By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
After all, as he said to FIBA.com, the national team is something special for him since the first day he was part of it.
“Just pure joy! I was a part of the youth national teams since I was 14 years old, and I am ‘addicted’ to the blue color. It’s pride to be a part of the national team, to represent your country. It was something I really wanted. It was a dream for me, or a goal if you prefer,” said Bogris, who was 27 when he made that senior team debut. “First of all, I wish to be a member of the national team. It’s not something that anyone should or could take for granted. When you get called to the national team, the only goal from that moment on is to help the team. Anyway you can, on and off the court. I believe that this year in Tenerife has helped me a lot in many ways. I am more experienced, I have a different role, I feel better than ever and I know I can help both on and off the court; because it’s important for a team to build strong relationships also off the court in order to succeed.”
When asked how much he is thinking about playing for Greece at FIBA EuroBasket 2017, Bogris said: “A lot…it’s my wish and my goal to be there. It would be great for me to be there, to spend my summer with the national team, to get to another big event.”
Greece have been drawn into Group A in Helsinki with hosts Finland, France, Poland, Iceland and Slovenia. Even though the Greek team finds itself in a change of generations, expectations in Athens, Thessaloniki and elsewhere remain high. “It would be good to say we don’t care about anything, let’s just go and see. But the national team is ‘doomed’ to succeed. People love this team, we love this team and we want it to be at the top again. I think we have the armory to do just that. And we certainly will try with this mixture of young guys and more experienced guys. We want that, but we have to work for it.”