Germany dashes dreams of valiant Greek side

Greece’s dream for a medal in the Paris Olympic men’s basketball tournament was dashed in the quarterfinal on Tuesday by World Champions Germany, who won 76-63 to become the first team through to the semifinals.

Catching Germany off guard, Greece got off to a flying start and opened up a 12-point lead. However, Germany bounced back in the second quarter, keeping Greece to six points from the paint, totally erasing the deficit after coach Gordon Herbert and his staff adjusted their defense.

As a result the two teams headed for halftime even at 36 points. Even though Greek NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo had a game high of 22 points, that was not enough to stop the Germans, who gradually took control of the game in the second half, with Franz Wagner netting 18 points. Germany will now play France or Canada in the semifinals.

Despite the defeat, Greek coach, and former legendary player, Vassilis Spanoulis was proud of his team’s performance at the Olympic tournament.

“We made an amazing run in both the Pre-Olympic Tournament and the Olympics. We showed that we are an up-and-coming force against teams that have been together for years, that have medals,” he said. “The guys overachieved, teams are built and there is no magic that happens overnight. And when we took our first steps with the national team, we went all the way to eight at the 2004 Olympics. But we all saw that something beautiful was being built. So now I see that something very good is being created,” Spanoulis added. “I’m proud of these guys, of our country and that we played a quarterfinal in the Olympics.”

Greece’s Kostas Papanikolaou echoed the same sentiments, saying, “Despite the elimination and even though we wanted to give joy and pride to the Greek people, I am happy for these guys and proud of all the effort we put in for two months.”

“Congratulations are due to everyone who surrounds the team. There is definitely a bitterness left, but I will smile because Greece has shown in this tournament that it can look very big teams in the eye, and this might be a sign for the future,” Papanikolaou added. Germany’s Dennis Schroder paid tribute to Greece, saying it is “a great team, but we did a great job competing for 40 minutes.”