GRE - Panagiotis Yannakis: "We are not picky about our opponents"

ATHENS (FIBA Olympic Basketball Championship) - Greece may have breezed through the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, but they will find the going much harder at the Beijing Games after being drawn in Group B with Team USA, world champions Spain, hosts China, Angola and Germany.  

Panagiotis Yannakis, the Greece coach, wasn't shaking in his boots at the prospect of facing the Americans or Spanish. He said: "We are a team that wants to play against the very best; we are not picky about our opponents. As we demonstrated in 2004, our goal is, when we come off the court, to feel that we gave 100%. 

"The first phase is crucial, because we have to face, the one after the other, some very strong teams.

"In order to be able to improve our performance day by day, we'll have to be ready to deal with the result, no matter if it is a win or a defeat.

"The game against the U.S.A. is like any other game.

"We want to bring more people to the "world of basketball". 

"There were a lot of people, a lot of new fans who came to the arena to watch the games.

"And there were also quite a few of our opponents who were jealous of the way our team played in this tournament.

"We tried to build a new mentality in the team. Our objective was to improve little by little. 

The Olympic Games is a tournament where there are going to be plentiful upsets, so it is imperative for us to keep our composure, to be patient and to respect all our opponents.

"We are not afraid of losing, as long as we know the reason of our defeat. After all, through defeats we can get better.

"I am very pleased that I am a member of this group.

"We are partners and we are eager to make proud all these fans, who came here to support us.

"What do we need in order to improve our game? To play more often and be more productive inside the paint."

LOC Press Office