By Antonis Stroggylakis info@eurohoops.net
The way Greece blew away Slovenia in the Olympic Qualifiers semifinal with a multifaceted offensive performance illustrated perfectly how coach Vassilis Spanoulis can safely expect healthy contributions from all his players.
While superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo remains the quintessential piece of the Greek national team puzzle, the entire picture can only be complete in all of its beauty if everyone else does their part.
Ahead of the Final that will decide which country will book a ticket to Paris and the Olympic Games, Croatia captain Dario Saric is well aware of the many weapons that Greece can implement against his side.
“Dinos Mitoglou is playing really good obviously. Thomas Walkup and Nick Calathes are great players. Kostas Papanikolaou has been playing on a high level for so many years,” Saric said when asked which players of Greece have made an impression on him outside of Giannis.
Saric has faced several players of the Greek national team on an international and club level back when he was competing in the EuroLeague. There are some though that he’s probably just finding out.
“Other guys and guards are capable of shooting threes,” Saric added. Maybe a node to Vassilis Toliopoulos and Giannoulis Larentzakis who had just dropped 4-4 and 3-5 respectively from beyond the arc in the victory over Slovenia. “It’s going to be tough. George Papagiannis is being huge playing for Fener. Really dominant guy. This is not going to be an easy game for us. But I don’t think it’s going to be an easy game for them too. It’s a Final. People should enjoy it. Let the better team win the game.”
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After producing a triple-double in the rout over Slovenia in the opener, Saric declared Greece to be the tournament favorite and a “better team” than Croatia. Now, fresh off posting 14 points, five rebounds and three blocks in the semifinal win over the Dominican Republic, the forward reaffirmed his position.
“Obviously they are the favorites,” Saric said. “They are playing great. They have a great coach. They play really good basketball. But anything can happen in one game. I think we need to come with a little bit more edge. Try to play really good basketball, try to have, like you say a dogfight, and try to beat them. It’s not going to be easy of course. The whole of Greece is supporting Greece here in this tournament. But why not come, play as hard as we can and maybe beat them.”
The last time Croatia made the Olympics it was Saric who led the charge. Back in the 2016 Qualifying Tournament of Turin, he was named MVP after putting up 14 points, 10 rebounds and 2.2 assists.
He had notched 16 points and 8 rebounds in a semifinal win over Greece before delivering 18 points and 13 rebounds as Croatia beat Italy in the Final.
Saric, who was proclaimed this tournament as the biggest challenge for this generation of the Croatian national team, looks forward to succesfull complete a journey that began last year in the Pre-Qualifying Tournament of Istanbul.
“We have come a really long – long way,” Saric said. “Last year we played 4-5 games, we beat Turkey in the Final in Istanbul. Now we play a couple of games here now we have Greece obviously. Really good team. It’s going to mean a lot for us [to make the Olympics]. This generation, these younger guys have something to say and have something to fight for so. It’ll mean a lot for us. So we’re going to see what’s going to happen.”