Greece NT for Eurobasket 2009

[rikhardur]

Kazlauskas Named As New Greece Coach





Jonas Kazlauskas is the new coach of Greece's national team.



The Lithuanian struck a deal with the Hellenic Basketball Federation on Thursday and his first major assignment will be this summer when the Greeks go for gold at EuroBasket 2009 in Poland.



Kazlauskas, one of the best known coaches in Europe, has strong ties to Greece following a spell as Olympiacos boss.



He has been without a job since leading China at last year's Olympics to a place in the Quarter-Finals where they were upended by another national side he once coached, Lithuania.



FIBA Europe President and President Emeritus of the Hellenic Basketball Federation (HBF) George Vassilakopoulos and HBF General Secretary Panagiotis Tsagkronis met with the 54-year-old Kazlauskas and confirmed his appointment.



Vassilakopoulos said: "We had a matter to solve and I believe it was solved in the best possible way by agreeing with Mr Kazlauskas about the national team.



"We move forward as always, believing that we are going to be ready to claim new success with the national team."



Kazlauskas, who nearly engineered one of the biggest upsets in Olympic history when his Lithuania team suffered a narrow Semi-Final defeat to Team USA at the Sydney Games in 2000 before settling for a bronze medal, is eager to face this new challenge.



This summer, Greece will play in Poznan in Group A against Croatia, FYROM and Israel.



"We talked with Mr Vassilakopoulos and Mr Tsagkronis and we agreed," Kazlauskas said.



"For me it's an honour and a challenge to take the reins of the Greek national team - a great team that always sets high goals.



"The Greek team has excellent players. What I would like to do now is watch as many games as possible.



"I know the players, but I want to see them again and start working!"



Kazlauskas replaces Panagiotis Yannakis, a legendary player and coach in Greece who enjoyed a terrific run in his second stint as national team boss.



Yannakis was asked to coach Greece shortly before the 2004 Olympics and his team lost in the Quarter-Finals to eventual champions Argentina.



The next year, Yannakis and Greece won EuroBasket 2005 in Belgrade while at the 2006 FIBA World Championship, Greece beat Kazlauskas' China in the first knockout game before upsetting the United States in the Semi-Finals. Spain then beat Greece in the title game.



Greece finished fourth at EuroBasket 2007 and fifth at last year's Olympics.



Yannakis' decision to replace Pini Gershon at the helm of Olympiacos in the middle of last season led many to believe he would not coach Greece again after the Olympics.



"We had left something open and I believe we put closure in the best possible way for the Greek national team," Tsagkronis said.



"Our collaboration with Mr Kazlauskas begins today, with expectations that our team will be successful."



Kazlauskas will be officially presented as the new coach on Monday in Athens.

[url="http://www.fibaeurope.com/coid_xU2DVKqNJIsFpXkYOfzCu1.articleMode_on.container_frontpage.html"]http://www.fibaeurope.com/coid_xU2DVKqNJIs..._frontpage.html[/url]