The national basketball team’s big win over Australia in Friday’s thriller looked like the start of a new era and a promise for tomorrow
When the “official beloved” started from Athens to Paris and from there to Lille, still fuming from the battles of the pre-Olympic tournament and with the wishes of her … lovers to accompany her, she knew that she was waiting for her in a pit full of lions .
Gold and bronze flocked to her group. The eternal evil demon Spain wears the crown of European champions from 2022, the Canadians left the world championships in Manila last year with the bronze medal on their chest, while the Australians in 2021 climbed the podium of the Tokyo Olympics.
We; “We count a decade and a half with failures and mediocrity” recalls Vassilis Spanoulis, a star player in the national team that won its last medal in 2009, at the Eurobasket in Poland. “Such a group would not be easy for any team. We came here to look everyone in the eye and to remind them what Greek basketball means. In previous years we have lost our identity, but this summer we are finding it again and building a culture of success. As long as we can do that, you can be sure that this team will bring home medals for years to come.”
The opening two days of competition burdened the suffering body of our national team with two back-to-back injuries. Defeat in the details by the mighty Canada, defeat in the details by the… battered Spain.
The internet pundits have spoken…
“Pack them up and go home, the kids can’t,” the social media pundits ordered in unison.
With their backs against the wall, the national team stepped onto the floor of the Pierre Maurois stadium and in front of 27,000 spectators who felt anywhere from ecstatic to stunned, played the best half of the last decades. “In the first part we touched the perfect” said Nikos Zisis in the shadows of the mixed zone, hero of the last moment with a winning three-pointer the last time the national team faced the Australians (in 2006 in Saitama).
Our own team has its years and the “boomers” from the Antipodes came back stronger, but the “thelo” of the Greek internationals, and the English “desire” of Walkup, Kalathis, brought our national team dry to the opposite shore. If Nick hit the exhalation, the Greek team would immediately secure qualification without computers. The ball went to the iron and the baton passed into the hands of the “red” Milutinov, Petrusev and the other Serbs. “We have confidence in our friends” Walkup said between seriousness and… seriousness.
The player who scored the game-clinching basket in Friday’s thriller may be from Texas, but the blood that runs through his veins is blue. “What you saw today was a classical performance of the Greek school. Overlaid with impassioned defense, self-assured bordering on arrogance.” The word Walkup used in his native language was “swagger”. In Piraeus we will translate it as “magic”.
Spanoulis reminded foreign journalists of something that many forget. “It’s very difficult for any team to form twice in a month and play against opponents of this caliber.” Before knocking out Josh Guiday and Patty Mills, our national team got rid of – with the help of their faithful – Slovenian superstar Luka Doncic and Mario Hezonia’s Croatian side. In addition to those we just mentioned, the basketball tournament of the Paris Olympics is watched from the couch by the Lithuanians and the Italians and the Argentines and the Turks and a whole host of other big names.
Positive sign
Our national team, orphaned of course by Giannis and Nick, finished only 15th in last year’s Mundobasket. The journey from Manila to Lille and from there via TGV to Paris was uphill, but ultimately enjoyable. Eagerly awaiting the result of yesterday’s match between Serbia and South Sudan, our internationals knew that the omen in 2024 is positive and the year successful.
“We needed such a victory, to show that we are coming back, all united, for the good of our country,” Spanoulis said shortly before saying goodbye to Lille. “Historically, we Greeks do better when our backs are against the wall and we feel threatened. The losses to Canada and Spain hurt our ego and in a way helped us fight back.” A few meters away, captain Kostas Papanikolaou said that the key to the victory over the Australians “was the smile of the day before”.
Maybe the treat of… pre-previous? Papanikolaou celebrated his 34th birthday on Wednesday in Lille, while Spanoulis will blow out the 42 candles on his own cake next Wednesday, the day between the quarter-finals and semi-finals. Yes, he is looking forward to seeing his large family again, but the order for the dessert was given to a pastry chef in Paris.
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