Itoudis: 'In this tournament, our players have grown into men' / News - Basketnews.com

Dimitris Itoudis thinks the Acropolis Tournament helped the Greek team find better chemistry, although he would have liked to use taller lineups in the games.

Credit: Vangelis Stolis Credit Vangelis Stolis

Greece was the team that won the 31st Acropolis Tournament held at the OAKA arena, after downing Turkey 89-80 in their third game in as many days.

The squad coached by Dimitris Itoudis finished its run of friendly games, counting four wins against Spain, Poland, Georgia and Turkey and one defeat by Spain in Madrid. Greek fans showed up on Friday night to watch Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Greek NT in action, but only the second part managed to satiate their interest and expectations.

The Greek Freak walked out on the floor in his jersey and warmup for the team’s introduction and then back to the locker room afterwards. He returned to Greece's bench at a later point. Just ten minutes before tipoff, the Greek federation informed that he's been experiencing back soreness.

However, it wasn't only Giannis missing for the home squad in that game. Center Giorgos Papagiannis, who has been sidelined since the start of training camp, will undergo a decisive medical exam on Monday morning which will largely tell if he's going to make the EuroBasket. Ioannis Papapetrou's participation is also highly uncertain after a contusion he suffered in Greece's game vs. Georgia.

Dimitris Itoudis admitted that he'd like to use big lineups as much as possible during prep and official games, but under the present circumstances, he has no option but to go 'small ball'.

"Let's be honest. Where's Mitoglou, Papagiannis, Giannis, Papapetrou? You don't let the game decide your fate. Small ball is something we've thought about, all players have got to play in a different position. It's something we work on in practice sessions.

I would like us to have a tall lineup and the opponent to be concerned about how to deal with us. We saw in this tournament players have grown into men. Kostas Antetokounmpo is becoming essential," the Greek coach stressed in the postgame presser.

In fact, Kostas Antetokounmpo's performance would have been monumental had he managed to capitalize on the four free throws he was awarded. He missed all four, but still pulled off 19 points and 13 rebounds and appeared as dominant as ever in the paint.

Giannis Antetokounmpo's late back soreness kept him on the sidelines, in a situation that doesn't worry Greece's medical staff too much. Nevertheless, Itoudis would like the team's superstar to have played in some more prep games instead of missing out on three out of five.

"You can't become a team that functions properly if you don't have key players with you. This is a serious problem," he admitted. "But it doesn't mean you're going to give up. We never did. Obviously it's a problem, we hope most of our players are healthy and we have good practices from Sunday onwards. We will try to solve the problems with the elements we've got."

Given the number and scope of the injury issues, Itoudis also conceded that he will "undoubtedly" wait until the last minute to decide on the 12-man squad that will travel to Milan for the EuroBasket group stage, starting September 2.

With regards to the game, Fenerbahce's coach stressed that Greece had to adjust quickly to Giannis' absence, changing their initial plans.

"We started very well, but Turkey opened the court with the shooters they have and (Alperen) Sengun, who was a puzzle for us as a creator in the low post. We finished the game with a very short lineup, but also with a great deal of will and self-denial to win.

In this tournament the promise that the team made is that it will fight. We're getting closer - despite all our mistakes and misses- to what we have planned. We don't have much time, I hope we don't have any more problems," the Greek tactician said.

Itoudis didn't forget to thank the almost 20,000 fans for their support to the team in the game.

"It's very important to know that have a whole country backing you, whether they will be present at EuroBasket or not," he uttered, while also commenting on some fans booing Turkey's national anthem during the teams' presentation, in a gesture that caused Ergin Ataman's disappointment.

"Should I start a discussion with the fans who booed their national anthem?" Itoudis asked.

"The same goes with Turkey. I am proud to be Greek, I sing the national anthem and I get goosebumps, but that doesn't mean that I liked what happened," he continued.

"I hope we get to a point where those things don't happen anymore. There are rules and lines that if you cross them you are punished. The majority of the fans applauded the Turkish player (Yigitcan Saybir) who was injured. I think the majority respected Turkey's national anthem. This is the right behavior," Itoudis argued.

Regarding the cooperation he has with other Greek coaches, Itoudis repeated that he's spoken with Giorgos Bartzokas, Dimitris Priftis and Giannis Sfairopoulos.

"We have a very good coaching team. And we're trying to be a team. But there is no addition. At most, (Leonidas) Kaselakis could enter because he has a thorough opinion," the experienced play-caller joked.

Itoudis was clear that the upcoming couple of games for the 2023 World Cup qualifiers find Greece "with no advantage. For Serbia it's a 'do or die' game," he said.

"We're at 3-1, but that doesn't give you comfort. We didn't think about hiding things in this tournament, but only about practicing and improving."

Subscribe to BN+ and get access to exclusive content.