Spain – Greece 87-80: Lesson before the difficult without Slukas, Giannis and Papagiannis

The absence of Kostas Sloukas, Giannis Antetokounmpo (knee problem) and Giorgos Papagiannis, probably the three most important units of this national team, was a good opportunity for Dimitris Itoudis to try faces, forms and… experiments away in the friendly with Spain. Greece was defeated on Thursday evening (8.11.) in Madrid (87:80), but showed an overall positive picture in the full Wizink Center, which radiated a nice, warm basketball atmosphere.

Sergio Scariolo’s team took a breather from the presence of Sergio Jules, from their 17,000 fans, they needed a good performance, a good reaction that would show their character and they did it. With Willy Hernangometh undisputed at the racquet while Greece didn’t shoot well from the perimeter (7/24 3-points), destroying a lot of shots (10/19), losing the rebound fight but nothing, really nothing in the way of a sequel .

The leader of the national team was Dimitris Agravanis (24 points, 5/5 doubles, 2/3 trebles, 8/10 shots, 4 rebounds), who played with stubbornness, determination, courage and daring at every stage of the 23 minutes that erupted on the floor stayed.

The original five and three points

Greece started the game with Kalathis, Dorsey, Papanikolaou, Agravanis and Costas Antetokounmpo. They led by five (13-8), doing good work on both sides of the court, but the Spaniards’ 4/5 threes gave them the lead (22-21) at the end of the period.

Lorenzo Brown and Jaime Fernandez took the baton for +8 (29-21) early in the second, with Yule writing 43-32 after a time-out from Scariolo and where everything was upside down for Greece as rotation came to an end off the bench , Agravanis’ tenacity kept it close at half-time (45-40) where the home side had 6/8 shots from the perimeter and the Itoudis players only 3/13.

The counter in a different form

Kalathis, Larentzakis, Papanikolaou, Thanasis Antetokounmpo and Agravanis opened the second half with a 7-0 run that gave Greece the lead. The Spaniards responded quickly, with Willy Hernangomet scoring 15 points for 52-49, Juancho hitting a 3-pointer for 55-49 and their defense again making the difference. Wiley was undefeated, scoring 65-53 in the 27th minute which kept the home side ahead and within reach until the end of the third.

The situation didn’t change at the start of the fourth quarter either, even though Greece were struggling to make a comeback from -14 (79-65). Itoudis demanded pressure, concentration and tenacity, some had these elements in the superlative, they reduced to eight (79-71) without achieving more. In the end, the best team won and that was Spain.

THE DECADES: 22-21, 45-40, 67-61, 87-80

SPAIN (Scariolo): Brown 8 (2 3-pointers, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals), Pradia 12 (5/7 2-pointers, 2/2 shots, 4 rebounds), Rudy Fernandez 10 (2), Lopez- Arostegui, Jaime Fernandez 6, Brithuela 4, Saith 7 (1), Hernangomet 23 (6/12 2 points, 11/6 shots, 10 rebounds), Yule 4, Nunez, Guerra 4, Juancho Hernangomet 10 (2 3 points ). , 10 rebounds), Parra

HELLAS (Itoudis): Dorsey 9 (3/6 2-pointers, 0/3 3-pointers, 3/6 shots), Lountzis 2, Larentzakis 8 (1 3-pointers, 3 assists), Agravanis 24 (5/5 2- Pointers, 2/3 3-pointers, 8/10 shots, 4 rebounds), Kalathis 8 (1 three-pointer, 5 rebounds, 8 assists), Bohorides 5 (1), Papanikolaou 5 (1), Papapetrou 8 (3/ 7 twos -pointer, 2/2 shots), Kouseloglou, Kostas Antetokounmpo 6 (3/4 2-pointers, 4 rebounds), Kaselakis 5 (1/6 3-pointers), Thanasis Antetokounmpo 1 (4 rebounds)

Spain team stats: 23/47 2-pointers, 9/19 3-pointers, 14/20 shots, 46 rebounds (31 defensive – 15 offensive), 21 assists, 5 steals, 1 block, 17 fouls

Greece team statistics: 21/38 2-pointers, 7/24 3-pointers, 17/29 shots, 29 rebounds (19 defensive – 10 offensive), 16 assists, 8 steals, 3 blocks, 10 turnovers