By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Lille, France – Wrapping up Gameday 1 of the 2024 Olympic Games, Canada edged out Greece with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander chipping in 21 points behind 5/10 field goals.
“They are a really good team,” the 26-year-old combo guard reacted to the narrow win.
“We saw them, obviously, in the qualifiers, kind of win games pretty easily against really high-level teams,” he referred to Greece advancing through the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Piraeus earlier in the offseason, “We expected them to give us a good fight and they did that, we are just happy we were victorious.”
Shortly following the conclusion of his first appearances in the Olympics, he clashed with Giannoulis Larentzakis.
“I feel like he bumped Nickeil [Alexander-Walker] for no reason. So, I just let him know that it is not cool,” he described the minor skirmish, “Yeah [it is cool now]. I will get it.”
Canada never trailed and led by 16 points but the advantage was reduced to two points in crunch time. A clutch response by Gilgeous-Alexander restored a two-possession game with less than one minute on the clock, setting up the victory in Gameday 1 of Group A.
“They play extremely hard. They have a lot of good shooters. Obviously, Giannis is a force himself. He gets downhill,” he replied about the strength of Greece, “They know how to play, are well coached, and obviously a really good team.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo recorded a game-high 34 points for the team coached by Vassilis Spanoulis.
Photo Credit: FIBA