Sakota eager to play for Greece in World Cup Qualifiers

ATHENS (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - It's been 11 long years since marksman Dusan Sakota lit up the U20 European Championship in Turkey for Greece.

The game-high 31-point performance - including five three-pointers - in an opening day win over Lithuania, a team best 17.5ppg over the course of the competition and a scintillating 41.1 percent shooting display from long range put everyone on notice that Greece had a lights-out shooter that was about to graduate to the big time.

Despite this, Sakota has somehow not made his way into the senior side yet but it may happen next month when Greece launch their FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Qualifiers campaign at Great Britain.

Sakota was a big hit with Greece's U20 side in 2006

The 31-year-old has been named in the preliminary squad for that November 24 game, and the one to be played in Greece three days later against Israel. It's something Sakota desperately wants to be a part of.

"PERSONALLY, PLAYING FOR THE NATIONAL TEAM HAS BEEN MY PRIMARY GOAL FOR A LONG TIME." SakotaSakota

"It's a great honor to be part of the national team," he said. "Imagine how much bigger the pride is when we talk about the Greek national team.

"For me, I'd take it as vindication for all the effort I made to be in the national team in previous years. Personally, playing for the national team has been my primary goal for a long time. I've been close some years to making the team, but I haven't managed to."

For Sakota, it's been a complicated situation. The son of former coach Dragan Sakota, Dusan has dreamed of breaking into one of Europe's top teams. When he was putting his great talent on display at that U20 European Championship, Greece were just a year removed from claiming a FIBA EuroBasket title in Belgrade.

Then 2006 was the year the Greeks pulled off one of the biggest shocks ever in international basketball, a 101-95 Semi-Final triumph over the United States at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Japan. So no, Sakota wasn't just trying to get a senior team chance with any side. He was hoping to break into a powerhouse, one that in 2008 hosted a FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament and clinched a spot in the Beijing Games.

"IT'S A GREAT HONOUR TO BE PART OF THE NATIONAL TEAM. IMAGINE HOW MUCH BIGGER THE PRIDE IS WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE GREEK NATIONAL TEAM." SakotaSakota

Sakota also endured a major setback in April 2010, while playing in an Italian league game for Scavolini Pesaro. He received a blow to the stomach that lacerated his duodenum and led to a couple of operations. He was put into an induced coma following the second operation to stop internal bleeding.

While it took him a long time to recover, Sakota did make it back on the court. He signed for Oostende in Belgium and then Enisey Krasnoyarsk in Russia. After a couple of seasons in Italy again with Varese, Sakota returned home to Greece to play for AEK Athens in 2014.

It's the club he is currently captaining, one that is playing in the Basketball Champions League for a second straight season.

Sakota hasn't given up hope of playing for Greece and for good reason. The national team has cried out the past couple of summers for perimeter shooting. Kostas Sloukas hit 17 of 29 (58.6 percent) at EuroBasket 2017 but no other Greek player was a genuine threat from deep.

In the first year of the Basketball Champions League, Sakota hit a very respectable 32 of 79 (40.5 percent) from behind the arc and was named to the Second Team of the competition's Star Lineup.

"No matter what the circumstances are, when you're invited to offer your help in the national team, it means that you are doing something well," Sakota said. "It means that you fought a lot for that, and you earned it."

Sakota does not think that making next month's roster would be less special, even with NBA players unavailable for selection. One prominent national team coach said over the summer it wouldn't be fair for players to compete in qualifying and then not be chosen for World Cup roster due to the return of NBA players.

"When you're invited once, you can be invited again," Sakota said. "It depends on your performance. All of us, we must show the character, the skills and the abilities to convince the coach that we deserve to be in the national team, including the best players from NBA and EuroLeague.

"If we were to play well, who says that coach would not invite someone again? But even if he did not, what remains would be a feeling that you did something good for your country, that you had helped the national team."

"IF WE MAKE IT, WE'D BE FULL OF PRIDE. THE FEELING WOULD BE AMAZING, THAT YOU HELPED YOUR COUNTRY, A COUNTRY WITH SUCH A STRONG BASKETBALL TRADITION, TO QUALIFY FOR THE WORLD CUP." SakotaSakota

Sakota gets positively giddy when he thinks about the possibility that he might play for his country in front of the Greek fans.

"The goal is huge, and it depends on us, if we make it or not," he said of the World Cup qualification. "And if we make it, we'd be full of pride. The feeling would be amazing, that you helped your country, a country with such a strong basketball tradition, to qualify for the World Cup.

"Come on man! It's awesome. Also, we carry the responsibility.

"Speaking with my dad after the announcement of the preliminary squad, I told him 'If I play Dad, no matter what happens in my carrier in the future, I would have the right to say that I was an international player.'

"It's beautiful to say that you played for the national team. Okay, maybe it will be difficult, maybe I'd feel tired for a couple of weeks, but pride cannot be compared to anything. I can forget exhaustion. But my feelings, my joy, my pride would last forever."

FIBA