As Sacramento Kings big man Georgios Papagiannis prepares for his first Eurobasket with Greece, he has revealed that he has been in contact with new team-mate and Serbian international Bogdan Bogdanovic.
The Greek star has said that he and Bogdanovic have spoken during the NBA Summer League and the 20-year-old said there will be no love lost if they face off against each other.
“I talked to him when we’re at Summer League and I told him, ‘We’re going to beat you guys,’” said Papagiannis.
“Even though we’re going to be teammates next year, I still want to win against him because I want to do it for [my] country.”
Greece have begun preparations for Eurobasket with two victories in Patras against Romania (106-48) and Great Britain (92-64) and are in great shape ahead of the tournament.
“Eurobasket is always good for a player,” Papagiannis said. “I believe we can go for the gold medal and it would be a great motivation for next year.”
Greece are housed in Group A, alongside Slovenia, Poland, France, Iceland and co-hosts Finland.
