By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Giannis Kouzeloglou, Giorgos Tanoulis, and Lefteris Mantzoukas were cut by Vassilis Spanoulis, the selector of the senior national team of Greece on Thursday.
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Following the exhibition game against the Bahamas in the Peace and Friendship Stadium, Spanoulis updated the preliminary roster, removing the three players.
Two more cuts are necessary before the 2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Piraeus.
Remaining players for Greece
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks)
- Kostas Antetokounmpo (Panathinaikos Aktor)
- Nick Calathes (AS Monaco)
- Vassilis Charalampopoulos (Turk Telekom)
- Nikos Chougkaz (Peristeri bwin)
- Panagiotis Kalaitzakis (Panathinaikos Aktor)
- Giannoulis Larentzakis (Olympiacos)
- Michalis Lountzis (Olympiacos)
- Konstantinos Mitoglou (Panathinaikos Aktor)
- Dimitris Moraitis (Panathinaikos Aktor)
- Giorgos Papagiannis (Fenerbahce Beko)
- Kostas Papanikolaou (Olympiacos)
- Vassilis Toliopoulos (Aris Midea)
- Thomas Walkup (Olympiacos)
After prep games, the focus switches to official action in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Greece will battle Croatia, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, New Zealand, and Slovenia for a ticket to the 2024 Olympic Games in SEF, between July 2 and 7. Placed in Group A of the preliminary round of the Olympics, the advancing country will join Australia, Canada, and the winner of the OQT in Valencia.
Hunting for a fifth berth in the Olympic Games, the Balkan country missed the last three opportunities with the last appearance in the Olympics dating back to 2008 in Beijing. Ranking fifth in the final standings marked the 2008 Games as well in Athens in 2004 and Atlanta in 1996. In Helsinki, back in 1952, Greece debuted in the basketball tournament of the Olympic Games.