GRE/PUR – Greece overpower Puerto Rico to clinch Olympic place

ATHENS (FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament) – Greece reconfirmed their standing as one of the leading sides in international basketball with an 88-63 blowout win over Puerto Rico on Saturday to clinch a place in the Beijing Games.

Dimitris Diamantidis led six players in double figures with 15 points in their semi-final triumph over Manolo Cintron’s team at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Puerto Rico, who lost Carlos Arroyo to a torn muscle in the second quarter, will now face Germany in the final game of the qualifying event on Sunday with the winner claiming the last place on offer for the Olympics.

Arroyo, Cintron said, is doubtful for the game.

Greece, gold medalists at EuroBasket 2005 and silver medal winners at the FIBA World Championship one year later after upsetting Team USA in the semi-finals, looked as good as they’ve ever been in Athens this week.

"We have a very good team but whenever you play at home, you have to be concentrated and take energy from the fans’ power,” said star guard Theo Papaloukas, who had 10 assists to go with his nine points for Greece.

“Everybody considered us favourites, but it's very hard to show it on the court. We were very well prepared and we did the best on the court.

“I think we deserved to take this ticket for the Olympic Games in Beijing."

Puerto Rico battled until the very end but after falling behind 15-4 midway through the first quarter, they had to play catch-up and it’s never easy to play from behind against Panagiotis Yannakis’ Greece.

Cintron’s men managed to claw the deficit back to 29-23, but Greece then outscored the visitors 19-12 over the next five minutes to lead 48-35 at half-time.

With Arroyo leaving the court at the break with ice wrapped around his calf, having missed all three of his shots in nine minutes of action, it was always going to be difficult for Cintron’s team to come back.

Jose Barea scored eight quick points after the restart to take his tally to 16, but every time Puerto Rico tried to seize the momentum, the Greeks always had an answer.

What has to encourage Yannakis is the continued development of players like the versatile Panagiotis Vasilopoulos and guard Vassilis Spanoulis, and the return to form of center Sofoklis Schortsianitis, the player who helped them so much in Japan two summers ago.

Vasilopoulos can defend against any player on the floor while Spanoulis is lightning quick on defense and lethal shooting the ball.

Schortsianitis, meanwhile, is as good a big man that exists in the game once he gets into the flow of the game.

The big man finished with 13 points and five rebounds in less than 13 minutes, while Vasilopoulos had seven rebounds to go with his 10 points.

Spanoulis finished with 14 points and six rebounds.

There have been concerns that Diamantidis is tired, but even he looked to be at best.

"I think the players showed a lot of discipline and respect for each other,” Yannakis said.

“I think if we keep on working and stay on the floor, we can have better results in the future."

FIBA