November's World Cup Qualifiers bring back memories of colossal showdowns

MIES (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - When national teams run onto the hardwood next month in Europe and play World Cup Qualifiers, it won't be the first time they've played important games in the middle of domestic seasons and in winter.

Fans used to watch their country regularly go into battle, as recently as 14 years ago when teams were trying to qualify for FIBA EuroBasket 2003.

And yes, many of the sport's biggest stars were involved, including some of the biggest names in European basketball history.

Take, for example, Spain and Greece, two titans on the old continent that traded blows in the FIBA EuroBasket 2003 Qualifiers.

The first meeting was on January 26, 2002, and was played in front of a raucous crowd in Athens. That Greece side included European legends Theo Papaloukas and Dimitris Diamantidis. It also had Konstantinos Tsartsaris, Dimos Dikoudis and Mihalis Kakiouzis.

All were players that fired the Greeks to EuroBasket glory in 2005, and then the following year battled in one of the country's most famous triumphs, a 101-95 upset of the United States in the Semi-Finals of the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Japan.

Greece also had famous players like Georgios Sigalas, Efthymios Rentzias and Fragkiskos Alvertis in that team that took on Spain in the January EuroBasket Qualifiers.

For Spain, there were European greats, too, like Juan Carlos Navarro, Jorge Garbajosa and Felipe Reyes. In addition, there were Alex Mumbru, Carlos Jimenez and Berni Rodriguez. All six played in the Spain side that captured the world title in 2006.

The Greeks, who got 19 points from Alvertis and 11 from Papaloukas, won the January 2002 clash, 86-73. Garbajosa had 18 points and Mumbru 16 for Spain.

In the second game between the sides on January 25, 2003, in Leon, Spain claimed a 94-91 triumph.

Barcelona icon Navarro exploded for 30 points and Reyes, still on the books of Estudiantes before his 2004 move to Real Madrid, had 18 points and 15 rebounds while yet another Greece great in the making, Antonis Fotsis, had 22 points.

Both Greece and Spain qualified for EuroBasket 2003, with Spain making it to the Final before falling to Lithuania.

FIBA