Greece men's national basketball team

The Greece national basketball team (Greek: Eθνική Oμάδα Καλαθοσφαίρισης Ελλάδος) represents Greece in international basketball. They are controlled by the Hellenic Basketball Federation, the governing body for basketball in Greece. Greece is currently ranked seventh in the FIBA World Rankings.

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Greece women's national basketball team.

Greece
FIBA ranking7 (3 March 2020)[1]
Joined FIBA1932 (co-founders)
FIBA zoneFIBA Europe
National federationHellenic Basketball Federation
CoachRick Pitino
Thanasis Skourtopoulos (EuroBasket 2021 Qualifiers)
Nickname(s)Επίσημη Αγαπημένη
(Official Beloved)
Olympic Games
Appearances4
MedalsNone
FIBA World Cup
Appearances8
Medals Silver: (2006)
EuroBasket
Appearances27
Medals Gold: (1987, 2005)
Silver: (1989)
Bronze: (1949, 2009)
Biggest win
Greece 123–49 Canada
(Athens, Greece; 17 August 2010)[2]
Medal record
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 0 0 0
FIBA World Cup 0 1 0
EuroBasket 2 1 2
Mediterranean Games 1 4 3
Total 3 6 5
FIBA World Cup
2006 Japan
EuroBasket
1987 Athens
2005 Serbia and Montenegro
1989 Yugoslavia
1949 Egypt
2009 Poland
Mediterranean Games
1979 Split
1991 Athens
2001 Tunis
2005 Almeria
2009 Pescara
1955 Barcelona
1971 Izmir
1987 Latakia

The national team has appeared eight times at the FIBA World Cup, with their best performance being in 2006 as runners-up, after beating the United States 101–95 in the tournament's semifinal. They have also reached the EuroBasket winning it twice, in 1987 beating the Soviet Union 103–101 in the final in Athens, and in 2005 defeating Germany convincingly by the score of 78–62 in the final in Belgrade.

Greece has also won one silver (1989) and two bronze medals (1949, 2009) at EuroBasket, having closely missed a medal on several occasions in world and continental tournaments (4th place in the 1994 and 1998 FIBA World Cups, 4th place in the 1993, 1995, 1997 and 2007 EuroBasket), as well as ending up in fifth place in their last three Olympic appearances (Atlanta 1996, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008). Between 1990 and 1997, following their consecutive successes at the EuroBasket, the Greeks participated in all major international tournaments but one, with their lowest ranking being at sixth place in the 1990 FIBA World Cup.

Greece is the only national team in the world to have defeated the United States during Mike Krzyzewski's era (2005–2016), as the latter had an undefeated record both before and after the 2006 FIBA World Cup semifinal, all major competitions included.

History
Greek national basketball team of 1987 logo

[3]

Basketball has a long tradition in Greece, as the country was one of the eight founding members of the International Basketball Federation, more commonly known by its French acronym FIBA, in 1932. However, the men's national team was considered as a second-class power in international basketball for several decades and only came into prominence in the mid-1980s by winning the EuroBasket 1987. It was the first ever major international title won by a Greek national team in any sports. As a result, basketball became extremely popular in the country and since then Greece has been placed in the high level on the basketball stage.

International debut and first successes

Greece was to take part in the EuroBasket 1935, the inaugural FIBA European Championship held in Geneva, but were not able to travel to Switzerland due to financial problems.[4] Thus, Greece made their international debut fourteen years later in the EuroBasket 1949 in Cairo, Egypt. That tournament has been marked as the weakest in the history of the competition, as most of the leading European basketball nations at the time refused to travel by plane to Egypt. Greece entered the tournament as a newcomer and got through to make their first major success in their very first appearance in the competition, finishing in third place behind hosts Egypt and strong side France.[5]

After their first international success, the Greeks were also present in the following tournament at EuroBasket 1951, where they qualified to the semi-final round and finally finished 8th among the eighteen nations that participated. They also made their first appearance at the Summer Olympic Games, taking part at the Summer Olympic basketball tournament in 1952. They were narrowly eliminated in the preliminary phase, finishing at the bottom of the classification along with other six teams, ending the first period in the history of the team as Greece did not enter any major tournament for the rest of the 1950s.

During the 1960s, the 1970s and the first half of the 1980s, Greece appeared in most of the EuroBasket competitions, with their best performances being the 8th place in 1965 and the 9th place in both 1979 and 1981. They didn't manage to qualify for the Summer Olympic Games nor to the FIBA World Cup, but in 1979 they managed to win the gold medal at the Mediterranean Games, beating Yugoslavia 85–74 in the final.

Rise to the top level: European Champions
Greek basketball legend Nikos Galis, FIBA Hall of Fame inaugural inductee and widely regarded as one of the all-time greatest players in both European and FIBA International basketball history.

The history of the national team was not overly impressive until the mid-1980s, when Greece arose as the new power in international basketball spearheaded by elite players Nikos Galis, Panagiotis Giannakis, Panagiotis Fasoulas and Fanis Christodoulou. The beginning was their qualification to the 1986 FIBA World Cup, the first time in their history. The national team went on to finish 10th among the twenty-four nations at the tournament, but it became a catalyst for the future.

The following year, Greece faced their biggest challenge, as the country hosted the EuroBasket 1987 with the national team entering the tournament with a formidable line-up. Qualified from the preliminary round, they eliminated Italy and Yugoslavia, both among the favorites to win the tournament, in the quarter-finals and the semi-finals respectively. In the final, Greece faced the defending champions and heavily favored Soviet Union. In front of 17,000 Greek fans at the Peace and Friendship Stadium, the hosts won the gold medal after a thrilling win 103–101 over the Soviets, with Nikos Galis scoring 40 points.[6] It was the first time that the Greek national team won a major tournament in any sport, thus basketball was made the national team sport overnight and the national team was to be considered the official cherished of the Greek nation.

The European champions failed to qualify for the 1988 Summer Olympic Games for a first time in 36 years, despite a decent performance in the pre-Olympic tournament. At the EuroBasket 1989, the defending champions were under pressure to prove that they could repeat the level of excellence they displayed at their last EuroBasket appearance, and they did so in a convincing way. After they had qualified from the group stage, the Soviet Union stood in their way in the semi-finals, but Greece defeated them once again and reached the final. Contrary to what happened two years ago, this time Greece had to overcome Yugoslavia and the latters' home court advantage, as the tournament was held in Zagreb. Eventually, the Greek team bowed to the home side taking the silver medal, their third medal at the EuroBasket all-time and second in a row.

Firmly among the best in the world but no medals

In the 1990s there was a series of successful results for the national team, which was present in all major international tournaments every year except for the 1992 Summer Olympic Games. In the period between 1990 and 1998, Greece never fell below 6th place and usually ended up 4th. They also qualified for a second Olympic appearance in 1996, where the team finished in 5th place.

At the 1990 FIBA World Cup, the team would face a new challenge as they would have to compete without their leading scorer Nikos Galis who was injured, but performed better than four years ago and eventually placed 6th in the tournament. For the next two competitions in 1994 and 1998 Greece finished 4th. In 1994, the team reached the semi-finals but were eliminated by the United States and played for the third place against Croatia to which they lost and were placed 4th, a result that was considered to demonstrate the continued prominence of the team. In 1998, the tournament was held in Athens and the Greeks hoped to qualify for the final. Although in the semi-final they were eliminated by Yugoslavia in extra time, and their disappointment of missing the chance to reach the final led to an easy defeat to the United States in the bronze medal game, once more leaving Greece 4th.

At the EuroBasket 1991 Greece finished 5th and for the next three competitions in 1993, 1995 and 1997 they reached the semi-finals but ultimately ended up 4th. The 1995 tournament was hosted in Greece but the Greeks failed to repeat the triumph of 1987 and were defeated in the semi-final by Yugoslavia, something that happened again in 1997, while hosts Germany had eliminated Greece in 1993.

The years 1999–2002 were marked by an obvious decline of Greece. The beginning of this era was the shocking 16th and last place of the team in the final standings of the EuroBasket 1999, having suffered three defeats in the preliminary round. Consequently, Greece was absent from the 2000 Summer Olympic Games. At the next European championship in 2001, the Greek team was placed 9th, thus failed to qualify for the 2002 FIBA World Cup.

European Champions and FIBA World Cup Runners-up
Greece won the silver medal at the 2006 FIBA World Cup after their memorable 101–95 win against USA.
Vassilis Spanoulis

The revival of Greece started at the EuroBasket 2003, where an overhauled team finished 5th. The experiment was partly successful, but the public was not very enthusiastic. The 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, were considered as the biggest chance for the hosts Greece to win their first Olympic medal. But in a close 69–64 loss to the eventual gold medalists Argentina in the quarter-finals, stopped any chance of it becoming reality. The team would go on to place 5th in the standings at the event overall.

Greece were considered a strong outsider for the medals at the EuroBasket 2005. They advanced from the group stage with two wins in three games and eliminated Israel and Russia to reach the semi-finals, where they faced France. The French side were leading the score by seven points with only one minute left, Greece appeared to have no chance to pull out the win and one more lost semi-final was coming. However, the Greeks managed to get within a two-point deficit and won 67–66 with a three-pointer by Dimitris Diamantidis with three seconds remaining, setting off a joyous celebration from the Greek side. In the final and in front of a raucous pro-Greece sold-out crowd of 20,000 at the Belgrade Arena, the Greeks defeated Germany in a convincing way 78–62, winning the gold medal for the second time in their history.[7]

Theodoros Papaloukas
Greek basketball legend Panagiotis Giannakis is the only person to have won the EuroBasket both as a player (EuroBasket 1987) and as a head coach (EuroBasket 2005). He also led Greece to the final of the 2006 FIBA World Cup.

The following year, the European champions won the 2006 Stanković Cup going undefeated in the tournament and defeating Germany again in the final with an impressive 84–47 win. At the 2006 FIBA World Cup, Greece were determined to win a medal they had closely missed in their last two appearances in the tournament. They reached the semi-finals with a record of (7-0), with some of their wins coming in grand fashion. In the semi-finals, Greece defeated the popular odds-on United States in a 101–95 upset, rallying back from twelve points down, and qualified for the final. But, they ultimately ran out of gas from their dramatic game with the Americans and lost 70–47 to Spain, ending up with the silver medal. Despite the loss the players were greeted enthusiastically by celebrating fans on their return to Greece, due to their first ever medal in a World Cup and their victory over the United States.

At the EuroBasket 2007, the defending European champions advanced to the semi-finals where they faced the hosts and reigning World champions Spain, in a rematch of the final one year prior. Greece came close to take revenge but eventually lost 82–77, and played in the bronze medal game where they succumbed to Lithuania. At the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, another last-second defeat 80–78 to Argentina in the quarter-finals led Greece to a 5th-place finish once again. At the EuroBasket 2009, the national team was potently changed, with a bunch of young players and without key players Theodoros Papaloukas and Dimitris Diamantidis, as well as Panagiotis Vasilopoulos and Kostas Tsartsaris, the tournament was perceived as the turning point for Greece after their major recent achievements. However, after their fourth consecutive defeat to Spain in the semi-finals and sixty years after their first, and last, bronze medal they managed to take the podium in the third position against the odds, with a thrilling 57–56 win over Slovenia, ceasing the curse of being defeated in all bronze medal matches in their history.

Before the 2010 FIBA World Cup, the team exhibited impressive performances during friendly preparation matches, beating Germany 82–54, Russia 101–63, Croatia 90–81, Canada 123–49, Slovenia 96–72, and Serbia 74–73, in a game that ended up in a brawl. That brawl exposed problems within the team, which showed a different face in crucial matches in the World Cup. In the group stage, Greece lost to Turkey and Russia, (being accused of purposely losing the game with Russia, to avoid playing with Spain in the knock-out stage). France's loss to New Zealand meant that Greece had to face Spain anyway in the round of 16. The two teams met once more, in a dramatic game that Spain won in the last minutes (a game that lead to Greek complaints about critical referee calls). That loss meant that the Greek team was eliminated from the next stage, ending up 11th (its worst performance in a World Cup). That game led to the fifth consecutive Spanish victory over Greece in major international competitions (Greece would stop Spain's winning streak 3 years later at EuroBasket 2013, beating them 79–75, with Vassilis Spanoulis scoring 20 points). That actually represented a reversal of the previous situation, as Greece had previously defeated Spain in every game they played against each other at the four major international competitions (1990 FIBA World Cup, EuroBasket 1993, EuroBasket 1995, and the 1998 FIBA World Cup). After the elimination in the 2010 FIBA World Cup, Dimitris Diamantidis announced his retirement from the national team, at age 30.

2011–present
Georgios Printezis
Nick Calathes

During preparations for EuroBasket 2011, new head coach, Ilias Zouros, faced one of the greatest challenges in the history of the Greek basketball team, with the absences of no less than 9 key players (including star players: Dimitris Diamantidis, Theodoros Papaloukas, Sofoklis Schortsanitis, and Vassilis Spanoulis). Zouros had to assemble a team mostly made of young players (half of the team's players had never participated in the EuroBasket, with little time to prepare. The new national team, featuring some of the next generation Greek players ("Generation X"), exhibited promising signs during friendlies, beating Russia 83–80, Germany 69–56, and Turkey 62–38. At the EuroBasket, Greece managed to reach the quarterfinals, where they lost to the eventual silver medalist France 64–56. Subsequently, the victory against Serbia 87–77, and the loss to Lithuania 73–69, led Greece to 6th place, thus securing participation in the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament. At the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Greece failed to qualify for the Olympics, after an 80–79 loss to Nigeria.

Participation at the EuroBasket 2013 with its new head coach, Andrea Trinchieri, didn't bring any consolation to its fans. The team once again exhibited superb performance during preparation games (including commanding victories against both eventual finalists France and Lithuania) earning the top spot on the FIBA EuroBasket power rankings before the tournament. Their start in the EuroBasket was equally fruitful, with comfortable victories against Sweden (79–51), Russia (80–71) and Turkey (84–61). However, serious injuries to (Spanoulis, Mavrokefalidis, Papanikolaou, Zisis) plagued the Greek team, despite the impressive win against the defending Champions Spain. Losses in critical games (especially those against Italy and Finland in their preliminary phase group), led to the failure to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since the EuroBasket 2001. They were, however, selected as a wild card for the 2014 FIBA World Cup, being placed in Group B consisting of the Philippines, Senegal, Argentina, Croatia and rivals Puerto Rico.

The national team once again introduced a new head coach in Fotios Katsikaris, and once more had to face what had become a chronic problem of missing key players (this time Vassilis Spanoulis, Kosta Koufos, Antonis Fotsis, Stratos Perperoglou and Sofoklis Schortsanitis). Greece ended up first in its group, after defeating all the above teams (being, along with USA and Spain, one of three undefeated teams in the Group Stage), but lost to Serbia in the Round of 16, and ended up in ninth place overall. Greece participated in EuroBasket 2015, in Group C consisting of Netherlands, Croatia, Slovenia, Georgia and rivals Macedonia. The national team with Fotios Katsikaris as head coach, ended up first in its group, after defeating all the above nations (being, along with France and Serbia, one of three undefeated teams in the Group Stage). In the Round of 16, they defeated Belgium (75–54), but in the quarterfinals, they lost to Spain (73-71). Two days later (17 September 2015), they defeated Latvia (97–90), ending up in fifth place overall, and qualified to one of the three 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournaments. At the 2016 Turin FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Greece defeated Iran (78–53), and Mexico (86–70), but lost to Croatia (66-61), and failed to qualify to the Summer Olympic Games, for the second time in a row. However, they qualified for EuroBasket 2017.

Greece began their EuroBasket 2017 campaign with a victory against Iceland, but lost their next three games against Slovenia, France, and Finland. However, they defeated Poland, by a score of 95–77, to clinch a spot in the knockout rounds. In the round of 16 Greece had a dominant performance in defeating Lithuania, by the score of 77–64, and advanced to the quarterfinals. There, they were eliminated in a hard-fought battle against Russia 74–69.

Honours

Medals table
Games Gold Silver Bronze Total
FIBA World Cup 0101
EuroBasket 2125
Mediterranean Games 1438
Stanković Cup 1001
Grand Totals 46515

Individual awards

Competitive record

Team

Current roster

Roster for the 2019 FIBA World Cup.[8]

Greece national basketball team roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.NameAge – Date of birthHeightClubCtr.
PF 34 Antetokounmpo, Giannis 24 – (1994-12-06)6 December 1994 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) Milwaukee Bucks
SF 43 Antetokounmpo, Thanasis 27 – (1992-07-18)18 July 1992 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Milwaukee Bucks
C 9 Bourousis, Giannis (C) 35 – (1983-11-17)17 November 1983 2.15 m (7 ft 1 in) Gran Canaria
PG 8 Calathes, Nick 30 – (1989-02-07)7 February 1989 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Panathinaikos
SG 5 Larentzakis, Giannoulis 25 – (1993-09-22)22 September 1993 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) AEK Athens
G 17 Mantzaris, Vangelis 29 – (1990-04-16)16 April 1990 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) UNICS Kazan
C 14 Papagiannis, Georgios 22 – (1997-07-03)3 July 1997 2.18 m (7 ft 2 in) Panathinaikos
SF 16 Papanikolaou, Kostas 29 – (1990-07-31)31 July 1990 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) Olympiacos
SF 19 Papapetrou, Giannis 25 – (1994-03-30)30 March 1994 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Panathinaikos
PF 15 Printezis, Georgios 34 – (1985-02-22)22 February 1985 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Olympiacos
PG 10 Sloukas, Kostas 29 – (1990-01-15)15 January 1990 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Fenerbahçe Beko
PF 21 Vasilopoulos, Panagiotis 35 – (1984-02-08)8 February 1984 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Peristeri
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) - Team captain
  • Club – describes last
    club before the tournament
  • Age – describes age
    on 31 August 2019

Depth chart

Based on the recent calls and selections[9][10][11][12]

Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2 Bench 3 Inactive
C Giorgos Papagiannis Kosta Koufos Kostas Antetokounmpo Vangelis Margaritis Dimitris Mavroeidis
PF Giannis Antetokounmpo Georgios Printezis Dinos Mitoglou Panagiotis Vasilopoulos Linos Chrysikopoulos
SF Ioannis Papapetrou Kostas Papanikolaou Thanasis Antetokounmpo Christos Saloustros Leonidas Kaselakis
SG Kostas Sloukas Tyler Dorsey Giannoulis Larentzakis Lefteris Bochoridis Charis Giannopoulos
PG Nick Calathes Vangelis Mantzaris Antonis Koniaris Ioannis Athinaiou Nikos Gkikas

Notable people

Players

Head Coaches

Past rosters

1949 EuroBasket: finished 3rd among 7 teams

3 Takis Taliadoros, 4 Sokratis Apostolidis, 5 Alekos Apostolidis, 6 Stelios Arvanitis, 7 Nikos Skylakakis, 8 Nikos Nomikos, 9 Nikos Milas, 10 Missas Pantazopoulos, 11 Alekos Spanoudakis, 12 Ioannis Lambrou, 21 Faidon Matthaiou, 22 Nikos Bournelos, 30 Thanasis Kostopoulos (Coach: Giorgos Karatzopoulos)

1951 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 17 teams

3 Faidon Matthaiou, 4 Nikos Milas, 5 Alekos Apostolidis, 6 Ioannis Lambrou, 7 Stelios Arvanitis, 8 Themis Cholevas, 9 Aristeidis Roubanis, 10 Mimis Stefanidis, 11 Panagiotis Manias, 13 Alekos Spanoudakis, 14 Ioannis Spanoudakis, 15 Takis Taliadoros (Coach: Vladimiros Vallas)

1952 Olympic Games: finished 17th among 23 teams

4 Faidon Matthaiou, 5 Nikos Milas, 6 Ioannis Lambrou, 7 Panagiotis Manias, 8 Aristeidis Roubanis, 9 Ioannis Spanoudakis, 10 Themis Cholevas, 11 Alekos Spanoudakis, 12 Kostas Papadimas, 13 Mimis Stefanidis, 14 Stelios Arvanitis, 15 Takis Taliadoros (Coach: Vladimiros Vallas)

1961 EuroBasket: finished 17th among 19 teams

4 Georgios Amerikanos, 5 Nikitas Aliprantis, 6 Antonis Christeas, 7 Georgios Ekonomou, 8 Alekos Kontovounisios, 9 Giannis Tsikas, 10 Giannis Bousios, 11 Nikos Chalas, 12 Kostas Mourouzis, 13 Stelios Gousios, 14 Dimitris Lekkas, 15 Kostas Politis (Coach: Faidon Matthaiou)

1965 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 16 teams

4 Kostas Politis, 5 Georgios Barlas, 6 Dimitris Lekkas, 7 Georgios Kolokithas, 8 Eas Larentzakis, 9 Takis Maglos, 10 Georgios Amerikanos, 11 Alekos Kontovounisios, 12 Petros Panagiotarakos, 13 Nikos Sismanidis, 14 Georgios Trontzos, 15 Andreas Chaikalis (Coach: Faidon Matthaiou)

1967 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 16 teams

4 Lakis Tsavas, 5 Georgios Barlas, 6 Kostas Politis, 7 Georgios Kolokithas, 8 Christos Zoupas, 9 Takis Maglos, 10 Vassilis Goumas, 11 Stratos Bazios, 12 Eas Larentzakis, 13 Kostas Diamantopoulos, 14 Georgios Trontzos, 15 Andreas Chaikalis (Coach: Missas Pantazopoulos)

1969 EuroBasket: finished 10th among 12 teams

4 Apostolos Spanos, 5 Georgios Barlas, 6 Georgios Trontzos, 7 Georgios Kolokithas, 8 Christos Zoupas, 9 Vassilis Goumas, 10 Kostas Diamantopoulos, 11 Andreas Chaikalis, 12 Nikos Sismanidis, 13 Thanasis Christoforou, 14 Makis Katsafados, 15 Thanasis Peppas (Coach: Faidon Matthaiou)

1973 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 12 teams

4 Apostolos Kontos, 5 Steve Giatzoglou, 6 Georgios Trontzos, 7 Michalis Giannouzakos, 8 Aris Raftopoulos, 9 Pavlos Stamelos, 10 Christos Kefalos, 11 Vassilis Goumas, 12 Nikos Sismanidis, 13 Georgios Kastrinakis, 14 Christos Iordanidis, 15 Charis Papageorgiou (Coach: Kostas Mourouzis)

1975 EuroBasket: finished 12th among 12 teams

4 Apostolos Kontos, 5 Vassilis Goumas, 6 Dimitris Kokolakis, 7 Michalis Giannouzakos, 8 Aris Raftopoulos, 9 Sotiris Sakellariou, 10 Takis Koroneos, 11 Steve Giatzoglou, 12 Charis Papageorgiou, 13 Georgios Kastrinakis, 14 Pavlos Diakoulas, 15 Dimitris Fosses (Coach: Vangelis Nikitopoulos)

1979 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 12 teams

4 Minas Gekos, 5 Vassilis Paramanidis, 6 Panagiotis Giannakis, 7 Michalis Giannouzakos, 8 Manthos Katsoulis, 9 Sotiris Sakellariou, 10 Takis Koroneos, 11 Steve Giatzoglou, 12 Charis Papageorgiou, 13 Georgios Kastrinakis, 14 Takis Karatzoulidis, 15 Dimitris Kokolakis (Coach: Richard Dukeshire)

1981 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 12 teams

4 Nikos Galis, 5 Liveris Andritsos, 6 Panagiotis Giannakis, 7 Kostas Petropoulos, 8 Manthos Katsoulis, 9 Kyriakos Vidas, 10 Takis Koroneos, 11 Asteris Zois, 12 Charis Papageorgiou, 13 Georgios Kastrinakis, 14 Takis Karatzoulidis, 15 Dimitris Kokolakis (Coach: Giannis Ioannidis)

1983 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 12 teams

4 Giannis Paragyios, 5 Albert Mallach, 6 Panagiotis Giannakis, 7 Nikos Galis, 8 Manthos Katsoulis, 9 Minas Gekos, 10 Michalis Romanidis, 11 Nikos Stavropoulos, 12 Liveris Andritsos, 13 Panagiotis Fasoulas, 14 Vangelis Alexandris, 15 Dimitris Kokolakis (Coach: Kostas Politis)

1986 FIBA World Cup: finished 10th among 24 teams

4 Nikos Galis, 5 Nikos Stavropoulos, 6 Panagiotis Giannakis (C), 7 Argiris Kambouris, 8 Argiris Pedoulakis, 9 Panagiotis Karatzas, 10 Michalis Romanidis, 11 Nikos Filippou, 12 Liveris Andritsos, 13 Fanis Christodoulou, 14 Dimitris Dimakopoulos, 15 Christos Christodoulou (Coach: Kostas Politis)

1987 EuroBasket: finished 1st among 12 teams

4 Nikos Galis (MVP), 5 Nikos Stavropoulos, 6 Panagiotis Giannakis (C), 7 Argiris Kambouris, 8 Nikos Linardos, 9 Panagiotis Karatzas, 10 Michalis Romanidis, 11 Nikos Filippou, 12 Liveris Andritsos, 13 Panagiotis Fasoulas, 14 Memos Ioannou, 15 Fanis Christodoulou (Coach: Kostas Politis)

1989 EuroBasket: finished 2nd among 8 teams

4 Nikos Galis, 5 Kostas Patavoukas, 6 Panagiotis Giannakis (C), 7 Argiris Kambouris, 8 David Stergakos, 9 Dinos Angelidis, 10 John Korfas, 11 Nikos Filippou, 12 Liveris Andritsos, 13 Panagiotis Fasoulas, 14 Dimitris Papadopoulos, 15 Fanis Christodoulou (Coach: Efthimis Kioumourtzoglou)

1990 FIBA World Cup: finished 6th among 16 teams

4 Georgios Gasparis, 5 Kostas Patavoukas, 6 Panagiotis Giannakis (C), 7 Argiris Kambouris, 8 David Stergakos, 9 Dimitris Papadopoulos, 10 Nasos Galakteros, 11 Vassilis Lipiridis, 12 Liveris Andritsos, 13 Panagiotis Fasoulas, 14 Memos Ioannou, 15 Fanis Christodoulou (Coach: Efthimis Kioumourtzoglou)

1991 EuroBasket: finished 5th among 8 teams

4 Nikos Galis, 5 Kostas Patavoukas, 6 Panagiotis Giannakis (C), 7 Argiris Kambouris, 8 Dinos Angelidis, 9 Ioannis Milonas, 10 Giorgos Gasparis, 11 Vassilis Lipiridis, 12 Liveris Andritsos, 13 Panagiotis Fasoulas, 14 Georgios Papadakos, 15 Dimitris Papadopoulos (Coach: Efthimis Kioumourtzoglou)

1993 EuroBasket: finished 4th among 16 teams

4 Georgios Bosganas, 5 Kostas Patavoukas, 6 Panagiotis Giannakis (C), 7 Lefteris Kakiousis, 8 Georgios Sigalas, 9 Efthimis Bakatsias, 10 Nasos Galakteros, 11 Christos Tsekos, 12 Giannis Papagiannis, 13 Panagiotis Fasoulas, 14 Nikos Oikonomou, 15 Fanis Christodoulou (Coach: Efthimis Kioumourtzoglou)

1994 FIBA World Cup: finished 4th among 16 teams

4 Panagiotis Giannakis (C), 5 Georgios Sigalas, 6 Nasos Galakteros, 7 Argiris Papapetrou, 8 Panagiotis Fasoulas, 9 Christos Tsekos, 10 Ioannis Milonas, 11 Efthimios Rentzias, 12 Efthimis Bakatsias, 13 Nikos Boudouris, 14 Fanis Christodoulou, 15 Kostas Patavoukas (Coach: Makis Dendrinos)

1995 EuroBasket: finished 4th among 14 teams

4 Efthimis Bakatsias, 5 Kostas Patavoukas, 6 Panagiotis Giannakis (C), 7 Tzanis Stavrakopoulos, 8 Georgios Sigalas, 9 Lefteris Kakiousis, 10 Fragiskos Alvertis, 11 Nikos Oikonomou, 12 Dinos Angelidis, 13 Panagiotis Fasoulas, 14 Efthimios Rentzias, 15 Fanis Christodoulou (Coach: Makis Dendrinos)

1996 Olympic Games: finished 5th among 12 teams

4 Efthimis Bakatsias, 5 Kostas Patavoukas, 6 Panagiotis Giannakis (C), 7 Dimitris Papanikolaou, 8 Georgios Sigalas, 9 Lefteris Kakiousis, 10 Fragiskos Alvertis, 11 Nikos Oikonomou, 12 Dinos Angelidis, 13 Panagiotis Fasoulas, 14 Efthimios Rentzias, 15 Fanis Christodoulou (Coach: Makis Dendrinos)

1997 EuroBasket: finished 4th among 16 teams

4 Georgios Kalaitzis, 5 Kostas Patavoukas, 6 Nikos Boudouris, 7 Dimitris Papanikolaou, 8 Georgios Sigalas, 9 Angelos Koronios, 10 Fragiskos Alvertis, 11 Nikos Oikonomou, 12 Christos Myriounis, 13 Ioannis Giannoulis, 14 Efthimios Rentzias, 15 Fanis Christodoulou (Coach: Panagiotis Giannakis)

1998 FIBA World Cup: finished 4th among 16 teams

4 Georgios Kalaitzis, 5 Georgios Balogiannis, 6 Nikos Boudouris, 7 Dimitris Papanikolaou, 8 Georgios Sigalas (C), 9 Angelos Koronios, 10 Fragiskos Alvertis, 11 Nikos Oikonomou, 12 Jake Tsakalidis, 13 Panagiotis Fasoulas, 14 Efthimios Rentzias, 15 Georgios Karagkoutis (Coach: Panagiotis Giannakis)

1999 EuroBasket: finished 16th among 16 teams

4 Georgios Kalaitzis, 5 Georgios Balogiannis, 6 Nikos Boudouris, 7 Dimitris Papanikolaou, 8 Georgios Sigalas (C), 9 Angelos Koronios, 10 Fragiskos Alvertis, 11 Vassilis Soulis, 12 Jake Tsakalidis, 13 Ioannis Giannoulis, 14 Michalis Kakiouzis, 15 Georgios Karagkoutis (Coach: Kostas Petropoulos)

2001 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 16 teams

4 Georgios Kalaitzis, 5 Nikos Chatzivrettas, 6 Theo Papaloukas, 7 Dimitris Papanikolaou, 8 Georgios Sigalas (C), 9 Antonis Fotsis, 10 Fragiskos Alvertis, 11 Dimos Dikoudis, 12 Michalis Kakiouzis, 13 Lazaros Papadopoulos, 14 Efthimios Rentzias, 15 Ioannis Giannoulis (Coach: Kostas Petropoulos)

2003 EuroBasket: finished 5th among 16 teams

4 Dimitris Diamantidis, 5 Nikos Chatzivrettas, 6 Theo Papaloukas, 7 Dimitris Papanikolaou, 8 Georgios Sigalas, 9 Antonis Fotsis, 10 Fragiskos Alvertis (C), 11 Dimos Dikoudis, 12 Jake Tsakalidis, 13 Christos Charissis, 14 Efthimios Rentzias, 15 Michalis Kakiouzis (Coach: Giannis Ioannidis)

2004 Olympic Games: finished 5th among 12 teams

4 Fragiskos Alvertis (C), 5 Theo Papaloukas, 6 Nikos Zisis, 7 Dimitris Papanikolaou, 8 Vassilis Spanoulis, 9 Antonis Fotsis, 10 Nikos Chatzivrettas, 11 Dimos Dikoudis, 12 Kostas Tsartsaris, 13 Dimitris Diamantidis, 14 Lazaros Papadopoulos, 15 Michalis Kakiouzis (Coach: Panagiotis Giannakis)

2005 EuroBasket: finished 1st among 16 teams

4 Theo Papaloukas, 5 Vassilis Spanoulis, 6 Nikos Zisis, 7 Ioannis Bourousis, 8 Panagiotis Vasilopoulos, 9 Antonis Fotsis, 10 Nikos Chatzivrettas, 11 Dimos Dikoudis, 12 Kostas Tsartsaris, 13 Dimitris Diamantidis, 14 Lazaros Papadopoulos, 15 Michalis Kakiouzis (C) (Coach: Panagiotis Giannakis)

2006 FIBA World Cup: finished 2nd among 24 teams

4 Theo Papaloukas, 5 Sofoklis Schortsanitis, 6 Nikos Zisis, 7 Vassilis Spanoulis, 8 Panagiotis Vasilopoulos, 9 Antonis Fotsis, 10 Nikos Chatzivrettas, 11 Dimos Dikoudis, 12 Kostas Tsartsaris, 13 Dimitris Diamantidis, 14 Lazaros Papadopoulos, 15 Michalis Kakiouzis (C) (Coach: Panagiotis Giannakis)

2007 EuroBasket: finished 4th among 16 teams

4 Theo Papaloukas (C), 5 Ioannis Bourousis, 6 Nikos Zisis, 7 Vassilis Spanoulis, 8 Panagiotis Vasilopoulos, 9 Michalis Pelekanos, 10 Nikos Chatzivrettas, 11 Dimos Dikoudis, 12 Kostas Tsartsaris, 13 Dimitris Diamantidis, 14 Lazaros Papadopoulos, 15 Michalis Kakiouzis (Coach: Panagiotis Giannakis)

2008 Olympic Games: finished 5th among 12 teams

4 Theo Papaloukas (C), 5 Ioannis Bourousis, 6 Nikos Zisis, 7 Vassilis Spanoulis, 8 Panagiotis Vasilopoulos, 9 Antonis Fotsis, 10 Georgios Printezis, 11 Andreas Glyniadakis, 12 Kostas Tsartsaris, 13 Dimitris Diamantidis, 14 Sofoklis Schortsanitis, 15 Michalis Pelekanos (Coach: Panagiotis Giannakis)

2009 EuroBasket: finished 3rd among 16 teams

4 Giannis Kalambokis, 5 Ioannis Bourousis, 6 Nikos Zisis, 7 Vassilis Spanoulis, 8 Nick Calathes, 9 Antonis Fotsis (C), 10 Georgios Printezis, 11 Andreas Glyniadakis, 12 Kostas Kaimakoglou, 13 Kosta Koufos, 14 Stratos Perperoglou, 15 Sofoklis Schortsanitis (Coach: Jonas Kazlauskas)

2010 FIBA World Cup: finished 11th among 24 teams

4 Ian Vougioukas, 5 Ioannis Bourousis, 6 Nikos Zisis, 7 Vassilis Spanoulis, 8 Nick Calathes, 9 Antonis Fotsis (C), 10 Georgios Printezis, 11 Stratos Perperoglou, 12 Kostas Tsartsaris, 13 Dimitris Diamantidis, 14 Kostas Kaimakoglou, 15 Sofoklis Schortsanitis (Coach: Jonas Kazlauskas)

2011 EuroBasket: finished 6th among 24 teams

4 Vassilis Xanthopoulos, 5 Ioannis Bourousis, 6 Nikos Zisis, 7 Kostas Vasileiadis, 8 Nick Calathes, 9 Antonis Fotsis (C), 10 Kostas Papanikolaou, 11 Dimitrios Mavroeidis, 12 Michael Bramos, 13 Kosta Koufos, 14 Kostas Sloukas, 15 Kostas Kaimakoglou (Coach: Ilias Zouros)

2013 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 24 teams

4 Kostas Sloukas, 5 Ioannis Bourousis, 6 Nikos Zisis, 7 Vassilis Spanoulis, 8 Stratos Perperoglou, 9 Antonis Fotsis (C), 10 Kostas Papanikolaou, 11 Vassilis Kavvadas, 12 Loukas Mavrokefalidis, 13 Kostas Kaimakoglou, 14 Michael Bramos, 15 Georgios Printezis (Coach: Andrea Trinchieri)

2014 FIBA World Cup: finished 9th among 24 teams

4 Vangelis Mantzaris, 5 Ioannis Bourousis, 6 Nikos Zisis (C), 7 Kostas Vasileiadis, 8 Nick Calathes, 9 Andreas Glyniadakis, 10 Kostas Papanikolaou, 11 Kostas Sloukas, 12 Kostas Kaimakoglou, 13 Giannis Antetokounmpo, 14 Ian Vougioukas, 15 Georgios Printezis (Coach: Fotios Katsikaris)

2015 EuroBasket: finished 5th among 24 teams

5 Ioannis Bourousis, 6 Nikos Zisis (C), 7 Vassilis Spanoulis, 8 Nick Calathes, 9 Stratos Perperoglou, 10 Kostas Sloukas, 12 Kostas Kaimakoglou, 13 Kosta Koufos, 15 Georgios Printezis, 16 Kostas Papanikolaou, 17 Vangelis Mantzaris, 34 Giannis Antetokounmpo (Coach: Fotios Katsikaris)

2017 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 24 teams

8 Nick Calathes, 9 Ioannis Bourousis (C), 10 Kostas Sloukas, 11 Nikos Pappas, 14 Georgios Papagiannis, 15 Georgios Printezis, 16 Kostas Papanikolaou, 17 Vangelis Mantzaris, 18 Dimitrios Agravanis, 19 Ioannis Papapetrou, 31 Georgios Bogris, 43 Thanasis Antetokounmpo (Coach: Kostas Missas)

2019 FIBA World Cup: finished 11th among 32 teams

5 Giannoulis Larentzakis, 8 Nick Calathes, 9 Ioannis Bourousis (C), 10 Kostas Sloukas, 14 Georgios Papagiannis, 15 Georgios Printezis, 16 Kostas Papanikolaou, 17 Vangelis Mantzaris, 19 Ioannis Papapetrou, 21 Panagiotis Vasilopoulos, 34 Giannis Antetokounmpo, 43 Thanasis Antetokounmpo (Coach: Thanasis Skourtopoulos)

Statistics

Top 20 career caps
  • Note: Includes only games played that are classified as being games played under the category of Greek senior men's national basketball team games, as deemed by the Hellenic Basketball Federation.
  • Players in bold, are players that are still active.

Players with the most caps (games played):

[13]

Rank Player Caps
1. Panagiotis Giannakis 351
2. Panagiotis Fasoulas 244
3. Fanis Christodoulou 220
4. Nikos Zisis 189
5. Georgios Sigalas 185
6. Antonis Fotsis 184
7. Liveris Andritsos 182
8. Dimitris Kokolakis 178
9. Ioannis Bourousis 174
10. Nikos Galis 168
11. Manthos Katsoulis 165
12. Kostas Patavoukas 162
13. Georgios Kastrinakis 158
14. Fragiskos Alvertis 155
15. Takis Koroneos 150
16. Michalis Giannouzakos 147
17. Vassilis Spanoulis 146
18. Georgios Trontzos 136
19. Dimitrios Papanikolaou 131
19. Theo Papaloukas 131
20. Efthimios Rentzias 127
20. Sotiris Sakellariou 127

Last updated: 14 May 2020.

Top 20 career scorers
  • Note: Includes only games played that are classified as being games played under the category of Greek senior men's national basketball team games, as deemed by the Hellenic Basketball Federation.
  • Players in bold, are players that are still active.

[14]

Rank Player Points scored Caps Points per game
1. Panagiotis Giannakis 5,301 351 15.1
2. Nikos Galis 5,129 168 30.5
3. Panagiotis Fasoulas 2,384 244 9.8
4. Fanis Christodoulou 2,269 220 10.3
5. Takis Koroneos 1,832 150 12.2
6. Georgios Kolokithas 1,807 90 20.1
7. Antonis Fotsis 1,734 184 9.4
8. Ioannis Bourousis 1,644 174 9.44
9. Vassilis Goumas 1,641 114 14.4
10. Georgios Kastrinakis 1,612 158 10.2
11. Fragiskos Alvertis 1,605 155 10.4
12. Georgios Trontzos 1,543 136 11.3
13. Vassilis Spanoulis 1,494 146 10.2
14. Georgios Sigalas 1,487 185 8.0
15. Steve Giatzoglou 1,468 115 12.8
16. Nikos Zisis 1,455 189 7.7
17. Manthos Katsoulis 1,371 165 8.3
18. Dimitris Kokolakis 1,280 178 7.2
19. Nikos Oikonomou 1,156 109 10.6
20. Georgios Printezis 1,120 126 8.9

Last updated: 14 May 2020.

Team captains

Memorable wins
Date Tournament Place Opponents Score
May 1981 EuroBasket 1981 Challenge round Istanbul, Turkey  Turkey 85 – 84
4 June 1987 EuroBasket 1987 Group stage Athens, Greece  Yugoslavia 84 – 78
7 June 1987 EuroBasket 1987 Group stage Athens, Greece  France 82 – 69
10 June 1987 EuroBasket 1987 Quarter-final Athens, Greece  Italy 90 – 78
12 June 1987 EuroBasket 1987 Semi-final Athens, Greece  Yugoslavia 81 – 77
14 June 1987 EuroBasket 1987 Final Athens, Greece  Soviet Union 103 – 101 (OT)
21 June 1989 EuroBasket 1989 Group stage Zagreb, Croatia  France 80 – 74
24 June 1989 EuroBasket 1989 Semi-final Zagreb, Croatia  Soviet Union 81 – 80
28 June 1993 EuroBasket 1993 Second round Berlin, Germany  Spain 76 – 75
1 July 1993 EuroBasket 1993 Quarter-final Berlin, Germany  France 61 – 59
4 August 1994 1994 FIBA World Cup 1st round Toronto, Canada  Germany 68 – 58
8 August 1994 1994 FIBA World Cup 2nd round Toronto, Canada  Canada 74 – 71
30 June 1995 EuroBasket 1995 Quarter final Athens, Greece  Spain 66 – 64
2 August 1996 1996 Summer Olympics 5th place game Atlanta, USA  Brazil 91 – 72
25 June 1997 EuroBasket 1997 Group stage Barcelona, Spain  Turkey 74 – 52
26 June 1997 EuroBasket 1997 Group stage Barcelona, Spain  Russia 74 – 72
27 June 1997 EuroBasket 1997 Group stage Barcelona, Spain  Bosnia and Herzegovina 78 – 76
31 August 2001 EuroBasket 2001 Preliminary round Antalya, Turkey  Italy 83 – 82
2 September 2001 EuroBasket 2001 Preliminary round Antalya, Turkey  Bosnia and Herzegovina 101 – 77
5 September 2003 EuroBasket 2003 Group stage Borås, Sweden  Croatia 77 – 76
6 September 2003 EuroBasket 2003 Group stage Borås, Sweden  Turkey 75 – 70
22 September 2005 EuroBasket 2005 Quarter-final Belgrade, Serbia  Russia 66 – 61
24 September 2005 EuroBasket 2005 Semi-final Belgrade, Serbia  France 67 – 66
25 September 2005 EuroBasket 2005 Final Belgrade, Serbia  Germany 78 – 62
20 August 2006 2006 FIBA World Cup Group stage Hamamatsu, Japan  Lithuania 81 – 76 (OT)
22 August 2006 2006 FIBA World Cup Group stage Hamamatsu, Japan  Australia 72 – 69
27 August 2006 2006 FIBA World Cup Round of 16 Saitama, Japan  China 95 – 64
30 August 2006 2006 FIBA World Cup Quarter-final Saitama, Japan  France 73 – 56
1 September 2006 2006 FIBA World Cup Semi-final Saitama, Japan  United States 101 – 95
4 September 2007 EuroBasket 2007 Group stage Granada, Spain  Serbia 68 – 67 (OT)
9 September 2007 EuroBasket 2007 Qualifying round Madrid, Spain  Croatia 81 – 78
14 September 2007 EuroBasket 2007 Quarter-final Madrid, Spain  Slovenia 63 – 62
18 September 2009 EuroBasket 2009 Quarter-final Katowice, Poland  Turkey 76 – 74 (OT)
20 September 2009 EuroBasket 2009 Third place game Katowice, Poland  Slovenia 57 – 56
17 August 2010 Acropolis Tournament 2010 Athens, Greece  Canada 123 – 49
5 September 2011 EuroBasket 2011 Group stage Alytus, Lithuania  Croatia 74 – 69
8 September 2011 EuroBasket 2011 Second round Vilnius, Lithuania  Slovenia 69 – 60
5 September 2013 EuroBasket 2013 Group stage Koper, Slovenia  Russia 80 – 71
7 September 2013 EuroBasket 2013 Group stage Koper, Slovenia  Turkey 84 – 61
12 September 2013 EuroBasket 2013 Second round Ljubljana, Slovenia  Spain 79 – 75
3 September 2014 2014 FIBA World Cup Group stage Seville, Spain  Croatia 76 – 65
4 September 2014 2014 FIBA World Cup Group stage Seville, Spain  Argentina 79 – 71
6 September 2015 EuroBasket 2015 Group stage Zagreb, Croatia  Croatia 72 – 70
9 September 2015 EuroBasket 2015 Group stage Zagreb, Croatia  Slovenia 83 – 72
9 September 2017 EuroBasket 2017 Round of 16 Istanbul, Turkey  Lithuania 77 – 64

Kit Suppliers
Period Kit supplier
1981–1988 Asics
1989–1990 Adidas
1991–1995 Reebok
1996 Adidas
1997–2005 Nike
2006–2007 Champion
2008 Adidas
2009–2014 Champion
2015–2017 Spalding
2017–2019 GSA Sport
2020–present Nike
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gollark: As far as I know the networks mostly just get fed "tokens" and output "tokens".
gollark: I guess so. But this way is easier to get useful results out of without 917249817481724871471094819024 big neural networks and 912748129648912641641246182057180971207401892784901704 training.
gollark: Humans have dedicated language processing brain areas, however.
gollark: Why did Syl engage *now*?

See also

References
  1. "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 3 March 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  2. Greece trounces Canada 123-49 at Acropolis event.
  3. http://www.sport24.gr/Basket/Eurobasket/eyrwmpasket-1987-24-xronia-meta.1104349.html
  4. "Eurobasket History – The 30s". EuroBasket2009.org. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  5. "Eurobasket History – The 40s". EuroBasket2009.org. Archived from the original on 13 August 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  6. "Eurobasket History – The 80s". EuroBasket2009.org. Archived from the original on 7 July 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  7. "EuroBasket History – The 21st century". EuroBasket2009.org. Archived from the original on 27 August 2009. Retrieved 11 September 2009.
  8. "Παγκόσμιο Κύπελλο Μπάσκετ 2019: Στη δωδεκάδα Βασιλόπουλος, Μάντζαρης". www.onsports.gr (in Greek). 30 August 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  9. "Εθνική Ανδρών: Ο Σκουρτόπουλος ανακοίνωσε την προεπιλογή". www.sport24.gr (in Greek). 2 July 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  10. "Εθνική Ανδρών: Χωρίς Ντόρσεϊ στην Κίνα". www.sport24.gr (in Greek). 25 July 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  11. Σκουρτόπουλος: "Μια πολύ σοβαρή Εθνική". basketa.gr (in Greek). 26 November 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  12. "Greece at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers 2019 - FIBA.basketball". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  13. ΟΙ 20 ΠΡΩΤΟΙ ΣΕ ΣΥΜΜΕΤΟΧΕΣ (ΕΘΝΙΚΗ ΑΝΔΡΩΝ). (in Greek)
  14. ΟΙ 20 ΚΑΛΥΤΕΡΟΙ ΣΚΟΡΕΡ (ΕΘΝΙΚΗ ΑΝΔΡΩΝ). (in Greek)
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