By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Paris, France – Shortly after elimination from the 2024 Olympic Games, Greece captain Kostas Papanikolaou shared his view on showings between the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Piraeus to Lille and Paris.
Opening the schedule of the Quarterfinals, Germany overcame a slow start to take down Greece.
“Of course, the team is disappointed. It is impossible to understand our effort, a few minutes after being eliminated,” reacted Papanikolaou, “It was not enough, but it was important, certainly. For us, it is not a failure. We reached the top eight. It was a significant success.”
Using the population of Greece, similar to Giannis Antetokounmpo, he confirmed proud feelings across the locker room for the team coached by Vassilis Spanoulis.
“With this jersey, you represent 10-11 million Greeks. This team did that in the best way. Nobody can fault us on our attitude, effort, work, or anything else,” stressed Papanikolaou.
“You can not sign a contract with success,” he replied about potential pressure on this generation of Greek players, including Giannis, “I can assure you that our desires are not smaller than that of [Franz] Wagner or [Dennis] Schroder. Nobody is going to give you anything. You must outplay them on the court.”
After contributing 7.8 points and 2.3 rebounds per contest, helping Greece advance from the Qualifying Tournament to the Olympics, Papanikolaou added 9.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 2.3 assists over four appearances between pool play in Lille and the Quarterfinals versus Germany in Paris.
Photo Credit: FIBA