The absence of stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo was felt as Greece was handed its first defeat at EuroBasket 2025, losing 80-77 to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Greeks engaged in a topsy-turvy clash that saw both teams take the ascendency, with a critical six-minute period in the second quarter wherein the Bosnians scored 18 uninterrupted points proving the major difference.
The scoreboard at the end of each quarter: 25-19, 38-44, 52-61, 77-80
The leading points scorers for Greece were Kostas Sloukas with 15, Tyler Dorsey with 14, and Kostas Papanikolaou with 11 points.
Coach Vassilis Spanoulis was direct in his thoughts as to the cause of the defeat.
“We lost our minds and got nervous,” said Spanoulis, who did not want to discuss the absences of Antetokounmpo and Giannoulis Larentzakis to minor injuries.
He gave praise to Bosnia as the deserving victors.
“They played better, stronger, they took us off our game and they won. In my experience, every time Greece won all the games in the first phase, it didn’t work out. Let’s see what happens now. Maybe it’s a good lesson for us.”
When asked about his thoughts on the potential knockout round scenarios, he stated:
“The scenarios for the ranking and the opponent are not for us.”
He added:
“If we are good and we deserve to advance, we will advance. Every defeat in the first round can help us in the future. We are waiting for both Giannis and Giannoulis to play on Thursday. The most important thing is to make the upset when the time comes and not in the first round.”
Greece should be boosted by the returns of Antetokounmpo and Larentzakis for their final group stage match against Spain on Friday morning (AEST), who will be fighting desperately to secure their spot in the Round of 16.
The Greeks have already qualified for the knockout stage, though they will be keen to secure a fourth victory to guarantee they finish top of Group C.
Source: AMNA
