Greece – Czech Republic, it was the last poster of the round of 16 on Sunday evening in Berlin. And the selection of Dimitrios Itoudis had to struggle to the end to get rid of valiant Czechs (94-88) behind 27 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists from the inevitable Giannis Antetokounmpo.
As during the last World Cup in 2019 in fact… At the time, Greece had already narrowly escaped (84-77) with a Giannis Antetokoumpo put under the extinguisher, with only 12 points (at 4 /9 on shots), plus 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 stray bullets.
Between 2019 and 2022, the “Greek Freak” has however changed in dimension and the Czechs can attest to this. If they held on well in the first half by holding the double MVP of the Bucks to 4 points 1/5 on shots, the sequel was more complicated with 23 points and several high-class shots at the end of the game to fold the ‘affair.
“We built a wall against him”explained Tomas Satoransky on Basket news. “It’s something we had to do. We had to take some risks but the Greeks managed to get in some serious shots. “
” I think that’s the biggest difference from the last World Cup”
Face-to-face with the MVP of the 2021 Finals for a good part of the evening, Jan Vesely held the rope for a long time in this duel of the giants. But the Greek colossus ended up winning the decision with two solid gold shots from behind the arc, his only two 3-point successes out of eight attempts…
“We tried to force him to take difficult shots, shots he is not comfortable on,” adds Jan Vesely. “But in the second half he was more in the low post and he started to share the ball. They found their rhythm and it opened up spaces for their attack. It’s impossible to get him out of his match for 40 minutes. He’s no longer a rookie player. He’s a two-time NBA MVP. He showed his quality and found a way to beat our strategy. “
Although obliged to tip their hats to him after the defeat, the Czechs will nevertheless have played their best until the last minutes of the match. On his bench, Ronen Ginzburg almost succeeded but he had to admit defeat against a Giannis Antetokounmpo who has progressed well since his debut, and a fortiori over the last three years.
“He got even stronger. And then at some point he decided to pass the ball more. I think that’s the biggest difference from the last World Cup.”analyzed Coach Ginzburg. “His shooting is still random but he is an incredible player. He is even stronger and he shares the ball more. “
