Antetokounmpo headlines Greece squad for FIBA EuroBasket 2017

ATHENS (FIBA EuroBasket 2017) - Newly-appointed Greece head coach Kostas Missas has revealed his 16-player squad ahead of FIBA EuroBasket 2017 with NBA sensation Giannis Antetokounmpo the headline name.

There are eight players included from last year's FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Italy last year.

Greece's preliminary 16-man squad ahead of FIBA EuroBasket 2017
Dimitrios Agravanis	Giannis Antetokounmpo	Athanasios Antetokounmpo	Zach August
Nick Calathes	Evangelos Mantzaris	Konstantinos Mitoglou	Georgios Bogris
Ioannis Bourousis	Tyler Dorsey	Georgios Papagiannis	Kostas Papanikolaou
Ioannis Papapetrou	Nikolaos Pappas	Georgios Printezis	Kostas Sloukas

Aiming for the medals in the upcoming FIBA EuroBasket 2017, Greece will rely heavily on the multi-skilled 22-year-old Milwaukee Bucks star Antetokounmpo and proven veterans like Ioannis Bourousis and Georgis Printezis.

"Members of the old core, Bourousis and Printezis, will join a younger generation of players who can no longer be called 'new' in a sense that these guys have won titles, starred at the top-level and proven their leadership skills," coach Missas said.

Having last earned a medal at FIBA EuroBasket 2009 in Poland, when they finished third, Greece and Misas have all the tools in the box to make a serious run at a podium finish with last year's core team members Nick Calathes, Evangelos Mantzaris, Dimitrios Agravanis, Ioannis Papapetrou, Thanasis Antetokounmpo and Georgios Bogris all available for selection once again.

"I was pleased to hear positive replies from the vast majority of potential national team players in recent days," Missas said.

The only big-name absence from last year's squad is Sacramento Kings center Kostas Koufos, who is still dealing with the consequences of a previous hand injury.

"Even in the case of Koufos, who is not included in the squad, his concerns regarding his hand injury were obvious. I decided to take a cautious approach and protect him, so we agreed to meet up in one of the future tournaments with the national team, which he always represents with great desire."

On the other hand, the return of national team old-timers Kostas Sloukas and Kostas Papanikolaou and frontcourt additions of Georgios Papagiannis and Zach August should help make the lone absence of Koufos easier to cope with.

August, who played at Notre Dame in American college basketball, spent the 2016-17 season in Turkey and made quite an impression at Muratbey Usak Sportif. He was the MVP of the Week on one occasion.

Greece will play the Preliminary Round in Helsinki in Group A with France, Iceland, Poland, Slovenia and the hosts Finland.

FIBA