Basketball seeks yet another victory

The national basketball team travels to Belgium this morning for a Eurobasket 2003 qualifier against Belgium tomorrow night. In its five games so far, Greece, which had won the tournament in 1987, remains undefeated. Yiannis Ioannidis, who has coached several Greek clubs including Olympiakos and Aris to glory both domestically and in European competition before taking over the national side last year, said he expected his side to continue its winning streak both tomorrow and in Greece’s next games against Romania and Denmark. «This is a team of high standards which must carry on,» said Ioannidis, who took on a demoralized national side approximately a year ago after it had faded as a European power. «We give preference to players who desire to play with the national team, ones that are prepared to sacrifice time and put personal interests aside,» he added. For tomorrow’s clash, Ioannidis has included AEK star Demos Dikoudis, despite his not having fully recovered from injury. Another key player, however, Frangiscos Alvertis will be missing from the Greek team’s ranks due to a lower back