New Greece coach Fotis Katsikaris announced his provisional squad for the World Cup to take place in Spain from August 30, leaving out some of the most experienced hoopsters such as Vassilis Spanoulis, Antonis Fotsis, Loukas Mavrokefalidis and Sofoklis Schortsanitis.
However, the Greece squad includes all three of Greece’s NBA stars, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Costas Koufos and Nick Calathes, as well as four younger players who will rejuvenate the team.
Spanoulis will need to nurse a knee injury this summer, Schortsanitis told the coach he does not feel ready to assist the national team at this stage, Fotsis has been left out as Katsikaris said he has other options for his position, and Mavrokefalidis will undergo surgery. Katsikaris has also chosen to omit Stratos
Perperoglou for personal reasons of the player.
The Greece coach said he has brought along Giorgos Bogris, Vlado Giankovits, Yiannis Athineou and Michalis Tsairelis to reward them for their positive club season.
The full provisional squad consists of Nikos Zisis, Costas Kaimakoglou, Ian Vougioukas (all three Unics Kazan) Vangelis Mantzaris, Costas Sloukas, Giorgos Printezis (all three Olympiakos), Yiannis Athineou (Armani Milano), Vladimiros Giankovits (Panathinaikos), Michalis Tsairelis and Giorgos Bogris (both PAOK), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Miwaukee Bucks), Costas Vassiliadis (Anadolu Efes), Nick Calathes (Memphis Grizzlies), Costas Koufos (Denver Nuggets), Yiannis Bourousis (Real Madrid) and Costas Papanikolaou (Barcelona).
Source: Kathimerini