Greece vulnerable without Giannis

How far can Greece go without Giannis Antetokounmpo? Coach Dimitrios Itoudis’ squad is a win away from booking a slot in the second round and faces New Zealand in the FIBA World Cup at the MOA Arena today. It shouldn’t be a problem advancing but looking forward to the knockout quarters, Greece might be in for some rough sailing.

Things would’ve been different if only Antetokounmpo showed up. But knee surgery knocked him out of the competition. Instead, his older brother Thanasis is in the lineup and he’s not anywhere near All-Star status. Thanasis, 31, has played five years in the NBA, the last four with his brother at Milwaukee. He’s one of three NBA draft picks on the Greek squad. Thanasis was New York’s second round pick in 2014, Kostas Papanikolaou was the Knicks second round choice in 2012 and Georgios Papagiannis was the Phoenix Suns’ first round selection in 2016.

Itoudis’ team was formed to surround Giannis with a formidable supporting crew. With Giannis out of commission, Itoudis realizes no one player can step in to fill the empty shoes and it’ll take a total team effort to compensate for his absence. American point guard Thomas Walkup was recruited to feed Giannis the ball wherever he is on the court. Now, he has others to set up. Walkup, 30, is from Texas and played in four NCAA D-1 seasons with Stephen F. Austin State University. He wasn’t drafted, saw action for Golden State in the Summer League and lasted until the preseason with Chicago. Then, Walkup barnstormed Germany and Lithuania before finding a second home in Greece. He was the Greek league’s Finals MVP and an All-Defensive Team selection this past season. Last April, he received Greek citizenship in an “express procedure” signed by the Ministry of Interior and the President of Greece to gain eligibility for the national team.

Greece has unveiled several basketball legends in the past like Galis, Diamantidis, Fotsis, Papaloukas, Giannakis, Calathes, Spanoulis and Bourousis. But aside from Giannis, heroes have been scarce lately. Before this year’s FIBA World Cup, the national squad had played in eight editions with second place its best finish in 2006.

Two players on this year’s FIBA World Cup lineup are armed with US D-1 credentials – Dinos Mitoglou from Wake Forest University and Ioannis Papapetrou from the University of Texas. The 6-11 Mitoglou was slapped a 32-month suspension by FIBA for failing a performance-enhancing drug test last year but it was reduced to 16 months or up to July 28, clearing him to play in Manila. Unfortunately, he fractured a finger in his left hand during practice and has been ruled out of the tournament.

Papanikolaou played at the FIBA World Cup in 2014 and 2019. Giannoulis Larentzakis and Papagiannis are also FIBA World Cup veterans from 2019. Nine of Greece’s 12 players came from the U16 ranks so it’s clear the senior team was built from strong foundations. Aside from Thanasis, the other NBA veteran in the cast is Papanikolaou who suited up for Houston and Denver over two seasons in 2014-15 and 2015-16, averaging 3.6 points in 69 total games.

Greece’s road to Manila was rocky. After beating Slovenia twice in friendlies, the Greeks lost four tune-ups in a row to Serbia, Italy, Germany and Team USA. But Greece got off to a roaring start in the FIBA World Cup by trouncing Jordan, 92-71. Greece’s lead was only six entering the fourth quarter but it ballooned to 21 at the final buzzer. Although the victory was decisive, a cause for concern was Greece’s inability to manage its fouls, giving up 25 free throws and taking only 18. In Greece’s next game, Team USA won, 109-81 and again, a thorny issue was free throws. Team USA hit 30-of-34 foul shots compared to Greece’s 8-of-16. Imbalanced offense was a problem as only Papagiannis and Nikos Rogkavopoulos scored in double figures. Greece was helpless in halting Team USA’s transition attack and yielded 32 fastbreak points while scoring only six.