National Team thread, all the news and updates here: Options

[biancoverde]

The Greek teams:
Panathinaikos: 9 Greeks, 2 Americans, 1 Polish, 1 Australian, 1 Lithuanian, 1 Central African

Sorry to correct but who on earth is Polish on the team?

Also there are 3 Americans... Batiste, Logan and Smith.

[Konstantinos]

Nobody is Polish. Except the American Logan Yes apparently he has a Polish passport and I think he might of even played on the Polish NT. Just like McCalebb for FYROM and other Americans who somehow get passports of other countries. One of the stupidities that FIBA continue to allow.

[RED DEVIL]

Konstantinos - those stats/figures you posted on March 3 with the number of Greeks representing the euroleague can be seen as two sided. The first, that yes Basketball in Greece as we all know is so huge and recognized all over europe and the world that foreign teams hire even Greek coaches to lead their teams.

The second, that all the best international players today FROM ALL OVER the world play in the NBA and that the Greeks are softies.. playing only in europe except for American born Koufos (denver nuggets). It is actually even more sad for Greek basketball that players like Diamantidis have retired and longer wish to play for the national team. This is the cherry on the pie and unacceptable. Its unbelievable to see that Turkey has 4 Turkish born players playing in the NBA .. nothing against Turkey here but Greece with so much deep basketball roots and basketball history have not a single Greek born basketball playing in the NBA. (Well done to the Turks and all other international players playing in the NBA.)

Then you have the example of Diamantidis versus guys like Dirk Nowitzki that at 34 years of age make sure they get their asses back in Germany to represent their country each time a major international tournament is played. I find that so amazing and I have so much respect for players like Nowiztki that have made millions of dollars, play in much tougher, longer season and demanding league yet make time for their national teams and then you have softies like Diamantidis. As I said earlier, good for all the international players leaving from their homes and countries in europe and south america and having the balls to play and make a name for themselves in the best league of the world the NBA.

I really hope that Hellas makes the Olympics.. it would be a complete tragedy and disaster if they dont qualify and you all know the reasons why.

[biancoverde]

Diamantidis retired for personal reasons. We knew he wasn't going to be on the team last year, because he announced it in Mundobasket the year before. Yes, its weak decision, and dissapointing but its his decision to make. So blaming our problems and failures on his decision to retire is ridiculous. I also think "retiring" is lame, he only has so many years where he can play basketball tournaments for the national team, why not use them all?


There are players we need like Sofo and Mavrokefalidis and who flat out rejected the team when they were needed and we had injury problems. Those guys you can blame for walking away, and now they'll come back when its for the Olympics.


I think we'll definitely be better this year, we have returning players returning from injury, and the younger players like Papanikolaou, Kalathis and Sloukas have another added year of experience.

I don't think this year we'll have players like Bramos and Xanthopoulos, Mavroeidis....instead well upgrade back to Spanoulis, Printezis, Perperoglou and possibly Schortsianitis.

[Konstantinos]

@Red Devil - You are right it does show a good/bad situation. I for one have been really hammering away at our players the past couple of years and I am sounding like a broken record. I have been calling our better players exactly like the term you used and that is "soft" compared to other star players of other countries. Every other star player of other national teams and even the ones who play in a gruelling NBA schedule answer the call. Nowitzki is the best example. I have compared in the past our team to the Argentinian team. The "golden generation" of the Argentina team that one the gold at the Athens Olympics is still mostly still together. Half the team that one the gold 8 years ago is still together because they want one last chance for glory. This includes three players that will be 35 and I believe only one player under 30. Ginobli is another example like Nowitzki He plays in the NBA including play-offs. He has one everything, NBA titles, Olympic gold and yet at the age of 35 he still has the desire to win. Our golden generation decided at 29-30 years old it is time to retire so they can sip on frappedes beside the beach in the summer.

[biancoverde]

I agree Diamantidis could definitely still be playing for the ethniki. He was the Euroleague MVP last year so its not like he's lost it. Its a shame and its ridiculous he "retired" at age 30. He could have had a reason though, and who knows maybe he will change his mind. Gkekas and others "retired" from the national team and did end up coming back in football. I mean how many more Olympic Games will Diamantidis be able to play in, its also his loss.


I hope he'll come back, but he's definitely not a fair scapegoat if we fail. With a healthy roster we really should breeze into the Olympics.

[RED DEVIL]

Well said Konstantinos.. i feel the same way. Excellent example the Ginobli and the Argentinian national team pushing once more for glory it was in my mind as well. Hopefully we can send them packing this time because we have lost to Argentina in the final 2 Olympic quarterfinals we have met in very tight and very close games. Lets focus on making it first and the we see.

biancoverde - the team needs to take this pre olympic tournament very serious even if everyone shows up. We got a fully stacked Russia and Lithuania teams to meet.. and along the way we face Puerto rico (lots of nba experience) and FYROM that is there only to give everyone a difficult hurdle. I feel that Spanoulis, Printezis, Tsartsaris, Perperoglou and Sxortianitis should all be there this summer and should be enough as well to qualify. Hopefully Diamantidis changes his mind and returns.

I will be in Venezuela for this one.. and i will cheer for all of you.. I really hope Hellas comes through.

[biancoverde]

Tsartaris retired in 2010 man.

Puerto Rico isn't that amazing. If theyre on fire and were horrendous like last year we could lose, but in all likelyhood theyre the big underdogs considering our roster. Lithuania we can beat, Russia too. FYROM would be difficult, but they don't have the momentum of last years tournament anymore - but i read that Jeremiah Massey is in top form in the EuroCup and he also has a Skop passport (making FIBA utterly ridiculous).

With Spanoulis, Printezis, Perperoglou, Schortisanitis, instead of Bramos, Xanthopoulos, Mavroeidis....its going to be a very big difference in depth; well actually have substitutes that can play and with experience.

We just need to finish at least 3rd to qualify; we were horrible last year because the team had no depth, and little experience, on top of playing awful.

This post has been edited by biancoverde: Mar 31 2012, 01:53 AM

[RED DEVIL]

biaconverde - Yes I absolutely agree with you we can beat everyone but let me remind you that even with a full roster never have Greece ever smoked Lithuania or Russia.. but scrapped last second buzzers wins. Today we do not have that same team. Puerto Rico is nothing great but a very physical team with NBA experience and if you are a softy around them and do not show up to play you will lose. I am not scared of Puerto Rico, but they are the worst possible draw we got in the pre-olympic tourney and it is hosted in Venezuela not too far away from their home. Everything plays a role here.. the mental games are beginning they need to be focused and ready.

Today Lithuania and Russia have players that play in the NBA.. we dont have any NBA experience and I believe this will play a huge factor if not in pre olympic but deep in 2012 olympic tournament it will bite us. FYROM as I mentioned will not be a push over and they are coming to take away our spot.

Championships are still being played but the tourney is not too far away and yet the coach has not made any efforts to begin his phone calls and start slowly making a list. I feel we are disorganized.. people retire before their time.. others walk off the court with so called girl problems.. others dont return phone calls to the coach, others complain of the long tough european schedule they have, while others it seems prefer sipping on their frapedes instead of caring for the national team.

Hopefully i am over reacting but its the way i see things. This is the national team and we have to always be focused and organized. It would be a tragedy if our national team is not in the Olympics in which the greatest athletes of the world are assembled. It would be unacceptable if we do not qualify. I know Tsartsaris retired in 2010.. i read in recent reports that he did call the coach and he is willing to come back and help team one last time if the coach needs him. If these reports are true this is great news. He has lots of experience i would bring Tsartsaris if he called me back.

[biancoverde]

We don't have a player in the NBA, but we have a full squad of players that are playing on the elite teams of Europe. That matters a lot more than having one or two talented players and mixed with nobodies such as Puerto Rico, Germany, Brazil, China.


NBA is the best league, but some players are better than others, and reasons for making it in the NBA I feel aren't solely based on talent all the time. Often European names that go there are total nobodies, just have freakish height/build and are snatched up very young. Pretty much all the foreign NBA players in the recent drafts are either 6-11 or 7 feet tall. Greece isn't that tall a country, and were only 11 million where as Turkey gets a few freaks out of their 70 million people + millions more of diaspora they are bound to get drafted, recruited and raised by the US system.

Lithunaia and Russia are good, but we came close to beating Lithuania last year- true they didn't have Kleiza, but we were playing bad + missing a lot of teams and they were playing at home. They are good teams, but my point is if we play well we can beat any of those teams with or without Diamantidis.

I'd welcome Tsartsaris back, and I hope he takes Diamantidis with him.

This post has been edited by biancoverde: Mar 31 2012, 10:26 AM

[Konstantinos]

@Biancoverde

Tsartsaris is not retired from the national team. I pasted a quote a page or so back from Zouros who said that Tsartsaris could not make it last year but made himself available in the future if they needed him, and Zouros added again if we need him he will come. Now unless I have missed out on something that Tsartsaris said later on that specified a change of heart I don't know otherwise he will be with the team.

@RED DEVIL

Correct, Puerto Rico will be tough and even with a full squad we have had troubles and will have troubles with Russia and Lithuania. Its better to wait and see though what our final roster will be and what the other rosters look like before we pass judgment, but 100% we will need all of our players if we are to qualify and also want to go deep in the Olympics.

This post has been edited by Konstantinos: Mar 31 2012, 06:12 PM

[biancoverde]

For some reason I remember both him and Diamantidis retired after Mundobasket 2010..... If he comes back, great. He'll be very useful.

[WOLVERINE]

I hope Tsartsaris comes back he is a good person and a bull. Plus he scored 24 points in the last meeting with team U.S.A
in Athens pre-Euro warm up. He was the only one that did not show fear towards the Americans.

[Elafara]

^No, doubt about it. Tsatsaris could really help us out.

I also think there is a player that seems to be underrated on this board, and that's Vougioukas. In my opinion he gets better for each game, and has been amongst PAO's most consistent players this season.

Would in my opinion contribute a lot more than Mavroeidis, and he should also be ahead of Schortisanitis in the line, based on the games against Maccabi (regardless of what happened last summer with Sofoklis).

[WOLVERINE]

I don't know about Vougiakis i did not see him play too much but in the Euro's last year he seemed very sleepy and not agile. I have seen nothing on Mavroidis. Sofo is good but you take him to the free throw line and he misses. So i don't know what's going to happen.
What about Prentezis do you see him as a better player now?

[Elafara]

Vougioukas did oddly enough not make the cut for the Eurobasket last year, he played at the Mundobasket 2 years ago though. He has become a LOT better since then. Don't know about Sofoklis, looked to me like he had gained weight again, did not look very motivated.

I haven't seen many Olympiakos games lately, but as i understand he has been very good since his injury. Wouldn't mind having him on the team on the behalf of Papanikolaou.

This post has been edited by Elafara: Apr 17 2012, 10:11 AM

[biancoverde]

Vougioukas wasn't even on the team last year. Personally, I think Vougioukas is a very useful player, talented. He played very well in the Barca series last year, as well as the Maccabi series this year with PAO. He's reliable substitute center, he rebounds, blocks, he scores, and he's reliable from the free throws. Hes underrated, written off by a lot of fans despite performances of playing well at high levels whenever hes called on.

Vougioukas now vs 2 years ago on the ethniki has gotten a lot better, no doubt. I preferred him to Mavroeidis last year, but Mavroeidis got his old spot.

Sofoklis is a good player, yes still awful at shooting a free throws, and rapidly commits fouls, but he's a unique player that adds a dimension to the ethniki, we definitely need him. Printezis also is in very good form, he has to make the ethniki because depth was a serious issue last year and could be this year too.




What do people think of Koufos??? Stay or be dropped? I think the fact that he plays in the NBA doesn't really make much difference to our team. He's not bad, but I can't say he'd impact as much as having Sofo or Tsartsaris back in the team.


I know for sure Xanthopoulos and Bramos have got to be dropped this year.

This post has been edited by biancoverde: Apr 17 2012, 03:18 PM

[hellas719]

Mavro edits, Bramos, and Xanthopoulos must be dropped and probably Sloukas too.

[pao_melbourne]

Greece playing two games in Australia late June!

Game one in Melbourne.

Game two in Geelong.

I think I'll go to both.

[RED SHERIFF]

i read its gonna be the B squad