Itoudis shares updates on Giannis and Kostas Antetokounmpo's availability / News - Basketnews.com

In the postgame press conference following Greece's win over Great Britain, coach Dimitris Itoudis revealed the reason why Giannis Antetokounmpo didn't play, while making a special reference to Kostas Papanikolaou.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

Greece faced some resistance from Great Britain only in the first three-quarters of their game, before getting their third win in their Milan Group C. The blue-and-whites thus became the first squad from their group to clinch a spot for EuroBasket's TOP 16.

However, the fact that somewhat overshadowed the game itself was Giannis Antetokounmpo's absence. Some thought that the reason the Bucks superstar didn't join his (ten) teammates was that needed some rest after playing two straight, high-intensity games against Croatia and Italy.

But, according to Dimitris Itoudis, that wasn't the case.

"He's available and will play tomorrow," the Greek coach revealed in the presser.

"He had a slight discomfort in his knee, nothing major," he further said. "With all due respect to the competition and our opponents, we didn't want to risk anything. That's why we decided not to dress him," he explained.

Kostas Papanikolaou, captain of the Greek team, explained to the media how the team tried to adjust to the absence of their star player.

"When Giannis is not in the lineup, everybody gotta give something extra," Papanikoloau explained. "Twice the energy, twice the hustle, twice the usual contribution on the court, because it's not easy to cover for what he does on the court. When he's out, everyone else needs to step up in order for us to make up for what he can do on the court.

And I think from that perspective we did a good job in the second half".

Credit FIBA

Kostas Sloukas, Greece's top scorer, maintains that the issue wasn't Giannis, but Greece's relaxed style in the game.

"To me, missing Giannis wasn't a problem. We're experienced enough as a team and players to play with more concentration. We weren't mentally ready in the first half," the guard of Olympiacos Piraeus told media in the mixed zone.

"Of course, Giannis is our most important player, but we have guys who have the experience and the talent, and need to step up their game. Giannis is the go-to guy, but today we took a step forward as a team," he added.

During the presser, Itoudis explained that the game presented "two different halves. We were sloppy in the first one- for no good reason," he pointed out.

"We had to compete for more. It's not easy to do that every day. There's nothing given to you. That's what we realized in the second half. We defended and today, Michalis Lountzis was big for us, making great plays. Sloukas and (Giorgos) Papagiannis cooperated smoothly, giving us a different dimension. They were both coming off injuries," he continued.

"We know that we've qualified for Berlin, but we still have two games ahead of us," he stressed. "Coming from a day off, it was expected that players' concentration would be a bit loose," he admitted.

"We had in mind not to extend Papagiannis' minutes. We're a good defensive team; we got bodies, can deflect and rebound the ball."

The Greek tactician took a question about Kostas Papanikolaou having an all-around game with 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists, and took the chance to praise his player.

"I was expecting to talk about our captain. He's a leader, a real captain. The team needs him. He leads by example. I hope he's healthy and he keeps giving up some more of those performances."

Greece only had 10 players on their roster, not only because of Giannis Antetokounmpo's lack of avaialbility, but also due to his brother, Kostas, being unable to practice with the team as well. Itoudis recalled that his squad hasn't had a single 'normal' practice so far, meaning with all players available and healthy.

"Hopefully, this part of the tournament will help us. We hope that Kostas Antetokounmpo will soon be with us. We also feel stronger as a group, ready to fight and proud of what we do," he commented.

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