Itoudis shares Larentzakis' halftime anecdote ahead of 4th quarter brilliance / News - Basketnews.com

Dimitris Itoudis wasn't happy with Giannoulis Larentzakis' shot selection in the first half.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

When Dimitris Itoudis stepped into the locker room during halftime of the intense match against New Zealand, his demeanor was far from joyful.

Greece / Schedule

Jordan Greece71-92 Greece USA81-109 Greece New Zealand83-74 Lithuania GreeceFri12:40 Greece MontenegroSun08:40

To start with, he was displeased with the score, given that the Greek national team was trailing by 11 points.

He was dissatisfied with their inability to match New Zealand's pace and his players' tendency to force plays excessively.

Another source of his discontent was Giannoulis Larentzakis, who had managed to convert only 1 out of 7 attempts in the span of 11 minutes of play.

In a nutshell, Larentzakis emerged as one of the key figures in Greece's emotional victory. The Olympiacos guard racked up 15 points in the fourth quarter, propelling his team to a crucial win over New Zealand and securing their advancement to the next stage in a must-win FIBA World Cup 2023 showdown, 83-74.

"I’ll tell you this," Itoudis began as he recounted the story of the Greek national team's hero.

"We were talking in the halftime that Larry was going 1 of 7 in 11 minutes. He was shooting the ball badly. He didn’t have to take those shots," Itoudis reminisced about the halftime atmosphere within the Greek national team camp.

"But Larry is like this. In clutch moments, he’ll give you a good defense. He’ll boost the team with one three-pointer or a drive and free throws. He has so much trust in himself," the coach praised his player.

"The kobra, man! You don't know when he is going to strike!" Thomas Walkup, Larentzakis' teammate at Olympiacos, exclaimed with a smile while praising the standout performer of the night, who concluded the game with 20 points.

"He's built with confidence. The guy has nuts on him," Walkup added.

Itoudis believes that going forward, this 29-year-old player will only get better and more important.

"Developing means he has to see the game in different aspects. He’s growing as a player. He’ll help his team more when he realizes that can play a little bit of off-ball, and he’s going to wait his moment for the game to come on him. He doesn’t have to force things. But he was amazing in the second half," Itoudis concluded.

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