In Milan and Berlin. In September 2022. These two big cities will be among those set to host the 41st Men’s Eurobasket and it seems an ideal starting point for the National to rebuild their legend. And getting as scared as before. The fearless squad that refused to accept defeat and swept the medals. And not only that. Greece had to deal with all the superpowers in the world. Even with the dream team of LeBron, Wade, Paul and Carmelo.

That was our national team. The former European champion, who had lost her crown over many years, but above all her luster. But it’s time to reverse this whole situation. And this is not a theoretical approach, but reality. The representative band is the best we have come across in terms of quality and sport in recent years.

The 12th appears to be closed with only one seat remaining no matter which coach will be on the bench. Basket, sloukas, dorsey, Larentzakis, papapetrou, Papanikolaou, Giannis Antetokounbo, Thanasis Antetokounbo, Costas Antetokounbo, mitoglou, Papagiannis appears to have ‘locked himself in’ to travel to the Greek team’s first stop for Eurobasket. Milan. As you read this composition, various exclamations come to mind. And it will definitely be the opposing coaches’ biggest “headache”.

Giannis Antetokounbo, the best player in the world

The fact is that the national team currently has the best basketball player in the world. The NBA champion and the athlete who can play all positions on the floor on both offense and defense. He will return to the Blues and Whites with confidence and the leadership that his experience now gives him and of course the title ring with the Milwaukee Bucks. He will be the leader of the team and the leader who can lead Greece to the end. He will also be the keeper of the national team’s ‘painful’ dressing rooms as he is the star respected and recognized by all Greek players, whatever their name and course. Giannis Antetokounbo is ready to lead Greece to 1987 and 2005 levels. And he wants and he can.

The shape with the AntetokounBros making the stadium smaller

We’ve all watched Costas Antitokoumbo rise with Villeurbanne. Associatively, the thought comes to us of looking at the same five together for the first time in the National and the three Antetokunbo. And we’re not far from seeing Thanasis in “3”, Giannis in “4” and Kostas in “5”. It’s a formation that can really “smother” opponents in defense and destroy any plan of confrontation in attack. Adding to that is the incredibly high quality regional player roster we have in Kalathis, Slouka, Dorsey and Larentzaki. Essentially in this form there is power, size, athleticism, cohesion, defensive superiority and offensive focus with an emphasis on play over the hoops. This coexistence looks extremely attractive and quite spectacular.

Finally a shooter with high standards

Above all, Tyler Dorsey is the player who fits the occasion perfectly and will return to the National at the most opportune moment. That is, when the presence of top-class shooters seems more necessary than ever. Not that it wasn’t lacking in previous years, but in this case and with the characteristics of the other players in the squad, the peripheral shot hides the Achilles’ heel. With Giannis Antetokounbo, Nick Kalathis and Costa Slouka building up the racquet and opponents closing the racquet to save the nails, lay-ups and alley hoops, Dorsey is the right person in the right organization.

And the powder smokers

All of this combined with the old gunpowders that were smoked in big National and EuroLeague games make the ideal mix. Kalathis first played in a major event with the Blue and Whites in 2009, Costas Sloukas and Costas Papanikolaou in 2011. They are European title players, experienced but few, just don’t have great success with the national team because the Times didn’t fit. Papapetrou and Papagiannis have been playing at the highest level for years, Mitoglou and Larentzakis are now EuroLeague-level players. Who will be 12th? Old George Printezis and born-again Dimitris Agravanis make a strong candidacy unless there is preference for a young regional who is only happy if elected. Like Bourousis and Vassilopoulos in Belgrade in 2005, at the beginning of their careers.

* Dependence on the coach is the only asterisk in view of Eurobasket 2022. Not because the new EWG administration takes George Vasilakopoulos’ ‘we have players’ view, but because the chosen one wants to take over from Vangelis Liolios and the federation. but not everything depends on him. The necessary okay from CSKA for Dimitris Itoudis is still missing, although there was a verbal promise that the Muscovites would respond by the end of January. The problem lies not in Liolio’s very good relations with Vatutin, but in internal affairs of CSKA itself. And the instability of the Russian team in VTB and EuroLeague does not allow pressure to resolve the national issue. It’s a secondary issue for CSKA. Still, it seems very difficult – how unlikely – that Itoudis won’t be on the bench after all.

Nevertheless, the EEC does not want to and should not wait forever for the Russians’ decision, which is why they have been preparing the other plan for a long time. Not the alternative, but the second process. Giannis Sfeiropoulos is of course a great case on the same level as Itoudis, at the same time the EWG offices are still working on the scenario that seemed remote until recently. That is, giving Vassilis Spanoulis the anointing and starting his coaching career like Panagiotis Giannakis. From the national team. There is a risk, but national teams are a completely different process than clubs and the environment is suitable for former great basketball players. Let’s not forget that the head of the national team is Municipality Dikoudis, and the general manager is Nikos Zisis.