Bourousis wants Greece to be one of the best again

MADRID (FIBA Basketball World Cup/EuroBasket 2015) - Giannis Bourousis has some very important unfinished business to attend to.

The Real Madrid center has circled in bright red on his calendar the month of September.

That's when he and the Greece national team will be together again, playing at EuroBasket 2015 and trying to prove they can still win the big games.

Bourousis has had a taste of winning of late with Real Madrid, claiming the Copa del Rey.

The 31-year-old Bourousis is looking forward to helping Greece become a success story again in international basketball, too.

It's been too long since the Greeks could say they were among the best.

"We want to get back on track," Bourousis said.

"We are aiming for success.

"That's why some of us are still in the national team, for 10 years now.

We want to help the national team return to the podium - Bourousis

"Especially us, the older ones, because we know that this may be our last year in the national team."

It doesn't seem that long ago that in 2005, when Panagiotis Yannakis was the coach, Greece was one of the most feared and respected teams in the game.

Bourousis was 21 at the time and just coming onto the international scene.

At the EuroBasket that year in Belgrade, they had a dream run to the title.

The Greeks defeated Andrei Kirilenko and Russia in the Quarter-Finals and then completed a stirring comeback in the final minute to shock Tony Parker and France in the Semi-Finals.

The following year at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Japan, Greece made it to the Final after defeating the United States in the last four, 101-95.

Theo Papaloukas and their mountain man, Sofoklis Schortsanitis, famously ran the pick-and-roll to near perfection for Greece in that win.

Fans back home in Athens poured into the streets to celebrate.

The Greeks also finished third at EuroBasket 2009 in Poland but since then, they have come up well short of the podium.

Last year, Greece looked very good in Group B at the FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Bourousis was in good form as the the team went unbeaten.

The Greeks had their swagger back.

But they unraveled against Serbia in the Round of 16.

"The previous years, we didn't have any success," Bourousis said.

"Last year we were able to present something positive but in the crucial second half against Serbia, it seemed like we didn't have any strength.

"We'll work harder in order to achieve our goals this time."

That defeat to Serbia should serve as a big lesson, even for veterans like Bourousis.

"We have the experience," he said.

"It's important to be intelligent heading into important games

"We cannot play with ego. We cannot have in our minds who will be the hero of the game.

"Whether you play one or 40 minutes, it's an honor to be in the national team.

"You represent your country. So, what we have to do in the games that will determine the outcome is to be more of a team."

Greece aren't going to have it easy in the Group Phase.

They will play Croatia in Zagreb, as well as Slovenia, F.Y.R. of Macedonia (MKD), the Netherlands and Georgia.

"The first ingredient is health," Bourousis said.

"We need to be healthy in order to have the best possible team in Zagreb.

"And the second is to have in the team the players who really want to be in the team.

"You don't have to beg somebody to join the national team.

"It's an honor to play with the blue jersey.

"We are in a tough group, with team like Croatia, who is co-hosting the event. We have to be careful against each and every team."

FIBA