Bourousis back for another Greek drama
ATHENS (2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments) - Yannis Bourousis, Thanasis Antetokounmpo and a couple of stars from last year's FIBA U19 World Championship, Tyler Dorsey and Vasilis Charalampopoulos,
ATHENS (2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments) - Yannis Bourousis, Thanasis Antetokounmpo and a couple of stars from last year's FIBA U19 World Championship, Tyler Dorsey and Vasilis Charalampopoulos, are in Greece's 16-man preliminary squad for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Turin.
| Greece 16-player squad for 2016 FIBA OQT in Turin |
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| Dimitris Agravanis | Giannis Antetokounmpo | Thanasis Antetokounmpo | Yannis Athinaiou |
| Yorgos Bogris | Yannis Bourousis | Nick Calathes | Vassilis Charalampopoulos |
| Tyler Dorsey | Vassilis Kavvadas | Kostas Koufos | Vaggelis Mantzaris |
| Kostas Papanikolaou | Ioannis Papapetrou | Stratos Perperoglou | Kostas Sloukas |
National team coach Fotis Katsikaris announced the list of players today, one that no longer includes veteran guards Vasilis Spanoulis and Nikos Zisis following their retirements from international basketball.
Each was a member of the Greece sides that won EuroBasket 2005 and upset the United States in the Semi-Finals of the 2006 FIBA Basketball World Cup although Zisis did not play against the Americans beacause of injury.
Antetokounmpo's younger brother, rising NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, has played for Greece's senior team the past two summers.
The parents of the Antetokounmpo brothers are Nigerian but both players were born in Greece. Thanasis Antetokounmpo, who played this season for the Westchester Knicks, was included in Nigeria's preliminary squad for the Olympics but the NBDL player made it clear he wants to play for the country of his birth.
"I called them (Nigeria) and told them that I want to play for Greece," he said. "I grew up in Greece, I am feeling Greek and that's my dream."
Katsikaris, who will coach Greece for a third straight summer, had teams that fell short of expectations the past two summers. His squad went unbeaten in the Group Phase of the FIBA Basketball World Cup before falling to Serbia in the Round of 16 and last year, Greece again went undefeated before slipping up against Spain in the Quarter-Finals.
The overall performances of both of those teams, the experience of several players and the continued growth of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kostas Koufos will make Greece one of the favorites heading into the OQT in Turin.
At the OQT, Greece will play in Group A against Iran and Mexico and then, if they have a top-two finish, will square off against Croatia, Italy or Tunisia out of Group B in a Semi-Final. The winners of the Semi-Finals will meet with a spot in the Olympics at stake.
Greece may have waved good-bye to Spanoulis and Zisis but they are not short of experienced players, particularly in the backcourt with Nick Calathes, Kostas Sloukas and Vaggelis Mantzaris, Stratos Perperoglou at forward and Bourousis in the low post.
Power forward Georgios Printezis is not playing this summer due to plantar fasciitis.
As part of their preparations for the OQT (4-9 July), Greece will play Turkey on 23 June in Athens. They will play the same team on 26 June in Turkey and then Serbia on 28 June in Belgrade.
FIBA