The best possible start was made by the National Basketball Team in the Pre-Olympic tournament held at SEF.
With Giannis Antetokounmpo in the superstar role and the rest of the team responding perfectly, the representative group defeated the Dominican Republic 109-82 in a packed stadium.
The leader of the Greek national team and the Milwaukee Bucks scored 32 points playing for 18:10 (!) without missing (10/10 2-pointers, 1/1 3-pointers, 9/13 shots), while he also had 2 rebounds, 2 assists, as many steals and a cap!
Greece achieved the first of the victories needed to qualify for the Olympic Games and Giannis dictated the pace, playing at ‘4’ or ‘5’.
Also standing out were Walkup (17 points on 3/3 2-point shooting, 3/6 3-point shooting, 2/2 field goals) and Calathes (12 points on 3/6 2-point shooting, 2/3 3-point shooting, 11 assists) for a team that provided scoring and spectacle, totaling 29 assists to just 8 turnovers, 7 steals and 4 blocks.
The team’s next opponent will be Egypt tomorrow night (04/07, 9pm), which is theoretically an easier opponent than the fighting and spectacular Dominicans, who received applause from the public.
It should be noted that the representative band played with… VIP spectators in the stands, while the game was watched by Nikos Galis, Panagiotis Giannakis, Dimitris Diamantidis and Panagiotis Fasoulas in the front seats.