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Exhibition Game: Greece vs. USA
#1
It's been confirmed, 25th August, 2010 Smile

Link is in Greek:

http://www.contra.gr/Basketball/Hellas/275030.html Thup
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#2
Hopefully OAKA will be filled with the fans who will create a great atmosphere.
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#3
Hopefully OAKA is sold out. The Americans will never know what hit them.
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#4
Yeah I think it should definitely be sold out. No other Greek NT has given so much satisfaction to all Greek fans.

I have a feeling this WC will also be the last big event for a lot of the older players on the team, around 30 years old or so. Greece will at minimum be aiming for a medal. And if we managed to pull it together to beat Argentina to a pulp, we might even have a shot at the final Biggrin
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#5
Quote:Hopefully OAKA is sold out. The Americans will never know what hit them.

LOL...Yeah right. They'll be quite by halftime.
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#6
Quote:LOL...Yeah right. They'll be quite by halftime.

American players have never seen anything like a sold out OAKA. You will find out when you see the game on ESPN. The NBA players have no idea what they are in for. They think the Kings and Thunder have a strong home court. Well, they really have no clue what OAKA is like if they think those are strong home courts.
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#7
It depends what kind of people will come to watch the game. I know that many people leave Athens in summer so nothing guaranteed. There's no doubt that it would be great to see the game in sold out OAKA and hardcore fans there.
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#8
Quote:American players have never seen anything like a sold out OAKA. You will find out when you see the game on ESPN. The NBA players have no idea what they are in for. They think the Kings and Thunder have a strong home court. Well, they really have no clue what OAKA is like if they think those are strong home courts.

Basketball is a game of 5-on-5, so unless people are coming out of the stands playing defense I doubt that the Greek's homecourt advantage will matter. I have no doubt the atmosphere will be loud and hostile, but as long as the environment is safe and secure it's unlikely the stomping, flairs and chanting will intimidate the US players. If anything, the pressure of performing in front of the partisans could work against the Greeks, as it did during the 2004 Olympics.
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#9
Quote:Basketball is a game of 5-on-5, so unless people are coming out of the stands playing defense I doubt that the Greek's homecourt advantage will matter. I have no doubt the atmosphere will be loud and hostile, but as long as the environment is safe and secure it's unlikely the stomping, flairs and chanting will intimidate the US players. If anything, the pressure of performing in front of the partisans could work against the Greeks, as it did during the 2004 Olympics.

Whatever you say, but those American players have never played in any environment like that. never.
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#10
Yeah, I'd say better we don't make any statements before the game. Each team must respect the other, hopefully we roll out our best game and so does the USA to make it a fine exhibition match. Luckily Yannakis isn't on the bench any more Biggrin Laugh
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#11
Quote:Yeah, I'd say better we don't make any statements before the game. Each team must respect the other, hopefully we roll out our best game and so does the USA to make it a fine exhibition match. Luckily Yannakis isn't on the bench any more Biggrin Laugh

I am hoping we bring a roster like this:

Spanoulis
Papaloukas
Zisis
Diamantidis
Pelekanos
Vasileiadis
Printezis
Fotsis
Kaimakoglou
Bourousis
Vougioukas
Mavroeidis

Other possibilities that are right on the cusp are Perperoglou, Charalampidis, Schortanitis. I really would like to send the best players this time for once.
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#12
I'm not THAT hot on Pelekanos really, he's not a bad player, but he's not national team material for me. Kaimakoglou is a 1,000,000% sure pick for the team, this guy's transformation is just phenomenal. To me he seems to play more of a 'banger' role in the team, like Dikoudis did before, but Kaimakoglou is WAY faster, smarter, stronger and has an exemplary shooting range. Oh and he makes free throws, much like it was guaranteed that Dikoudis wouldn't! Laugh

I think Sofo definitely has to come back to the team, there's no other center that can get opposing centers out of the game by making them foul constantly. Now if he could work on his vertical more and lose more weight, he wouldn't be getting blocked while going for a dunk :\

There's no point in mentioning the core of the NT, they are granted as part of the soul and heart of the team. You left out Tsartsaris, because he is also in there, but messing up his hand twice this year did him no favours. I was pleased by his performance in the finals. His experience is definitely needed for the WC.

I'm not convinced Mavroidis is NT material either, Vougioukas should get a chance to try and prove himself. Calathis was quite positive the last Eurobasket (and I'd like to see him on the team) round, although he did make a lot of turnovers too, but as a guard that is the nature of your position when the pressure is piled on.

We should be bringing on more future players as well, Mavrokefalidis (great spin moves and hooks in the paint, not enough experience however), but also ALL those young guys (I've forgotten their names since last year, LOL) and winners from last summer's young men's and junior world and European championships respectively. They need to keep on running the tradition and need to be getting the necessary experience behind them.
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#13
Pelekanos is the most athletic player in Europe. He is also a very good 3 point spot up shooter. Those are the two main weaknesses that the Greek team has. Athleticism and 3 point spot shooting. If not Pelekanos at SG then who else?

Pappas? Too young and not good enough yet.

Kalampokis? Certainly one of the best Greek players but he's getting a bit too old.

Charalampidis? Good choice also along with Pelekanos.

For me it's between Charalampidis and Pelekanos.
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#14
Interesting question posed there, but our guards get shuffled around the 1-3 spots anyway. You're right Pelekanos does have athleticism, and a decent shot, but I've never seen a game where he stepped up as a clutch player. He could be a backup, but certainly no role leader.

Now talking about the young kids I most of them on Aris, Panathinaikos, Olybiakos, Maroussi, etc. Bit by bit they need to get game time and playing higher level ball. I mean look at that little snot-nosed kiddie Rubio and how he became the good player he is from playing a lot of highest-level basketball?

I'm sick of this bullshit tradition that goes on in our country where only those with the biggest financial and political connections become basketball players of the A1. We have so much talent that gets wasted by these shit-thick goat herders that run most of the teams (on all levels).

We are a nation of basketball, pure and simple, forget football Laugh Cool
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#15
Quote:Interesting question posed there, but our guards get shuffled around the 1-3 spots anyway. You're right Pelekanos does have athleticism, and a decent shot, but I've never seen a game where he stepped up as a clutch player. He could be a backup, but certainly no role leader.

Now talking about the young kids I most of them on Aris, Panathinaikos, Olybiakos, Maroussi, etc. Bit by bit they need to get game time and playing higher level ball. I mean look at that little snot-nosed kiddie Rubio and how he became the good player he is from playing a lot of highest-level basketball?

I'm sick of this bullshit tradition that goes on in our country where only those with the biggest financial and political connections become basketball players of the A1. We have so much talent that gets wasted by these shit-thick goat herders that run most of the teams (on all levels).

We are a nation of basketball, pure and simple, forget football Laugh Cool

Now that the season is over do you know when Kazlauskas will announce the training camp invites?
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#16
50 euros for a ticket is a rip-off. No Greek in his right mind should attend.

But then again we are talking about Greece here... so many people will attend.
Respect and thanks for everything:

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#17
Quote:Whatever you say, but those American players have never played in any environment like that. never.

Sure they have, our College arenas have the same atmosphere(ask Nick Calathas), maybe not so much the controlled fires, but incredibly loud, obscene, vulgar, relentless fans, right on top of you screaming all night long. That's common place in college basketball. Not too mention they just played in "The Magic Box" in front of a racists Spanish crowd. Also, the crazy Greek fans will not be a surprise to the Americans, part of the training the US team went through in Vegas was dedicated to the infamous Athens crowd. Sure you can't exactly duplicate the real life conditions in a gym in the desert but the Americans understand what they're getting into on Wednesday. That's exactly why they scheduled that tune up.

I guarantee you USA is more concerned with your pick n' roll game than the hostile crowd.
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#18
Quote:Sure they have, our College arenas have the same atmosphere(ask Nick Calathas), maybe not so much the controlled fires, but incredibly loud, obscene, vulgar, relentless fans, right on top of you screaming all night long. That's common place in college basketball. Not too mention they just played in "The Magic Box" in front of a racists Spanish crowd. Also, the crazy Greek fans will not be a surprise to the Americans, part of the training the US team went through in Vegas was dedicated to the infamous Athens crowd. Sure you can't exactly duplicate the real life conditions in a gym in the desert but the Americans understand what they're getting into on Wednesday. That's exactly why they scheduled that tune up.

I guarantee you USA is more concerned with your pick n' roll game than the hostile crowd.

No, they haven't. NCAA's fans are loud, but it's different from European atmosphere. By the way, there's a big difference between playing for a team (for money) and for a NT when you're playing for your country and especially when such a number of fans watch you. Smile
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#19
Well, Greece NT fans are not the idiot hardcore mongols (some are...) that follow PAO and OLY... so USA has nothing to be afraid of... unless there is a fight and some gypsies jump into the court and start chasing their players...
Respect and thanks for everything:

Alvertis, Bodiroga, Jasikevicius, Radja, Wilkins, Vrankovic, Fotsis, Rebraca, Kattash, Gentile, Koch, Middleton, Kutluay, Rogers, Papadopoulos, Becirovic, Tomasevic, Siskauskas, Pekovic, Lakovic, Vujanic, Chatzivrettas, Maljkovic, Spanoulis and many more to follow in the near future.
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#20
Heh, Americans have no idea what an atmosphere of WAR is like Biggrin

P.S. Unfortunately for all the Greeks abroad, this game will be broadcast on NOVA. No free public or private TV I'm afraid Tongue
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