Gilas group stage opponents’ preview: Giannis and the Greeks

I make it sound like a rockabilly band from the 1950’s but that’s who they are. And they will be preliminary round assignment number two for Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA World Cup.
 
Don’t let the eleventh place finish in Eurobasket and the wild card tag fool you. If you thought Croatia looked tough, Greece is legit tough. Their heritage in basketball has been a long rollercoaster highlighted by relegating the United States squad to the bronze medal match in the 2006 Worlds in Tokushima, Japan that featured future Hall-Of-Famers LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul. They’ve also won the Eurobasket twice, the last one coming in 2005.
 
Rows between the Hellas Basketball Federation and the players and coaches—and an unfortunate spate of injuries during last year’s Eurobasket have somehow sent the program into turmoil but since being awarded a wild card slot, the Greeks are a major threat to crack the Final Four, especially now that their line-up is healthy and intact.
 
Here is the official roster:
 
4 Vaggelis MANTZARIS – PG 6’5” (Olympiacos-Greece)
5 Giannis BOUROUSIS – C 7’1” (Real Madrid-Spain)
6 Nikos ZISIS –SG 6’6” (Uniks Kazan-Russia)
7 Kostas VASILEIADIS – SG 6’7” (Anadolu Efes-Turkey)
8 Nick CALATHES – PG 6’3” (Memphis Grizzlies-USA)
9 Andreas GLYNIADAKIS – C 7’0” (Lietuvos Rytas-Lithuania)
10 Kostas PAPANIKOLAOU – SF 6’8” (FC Barcelona-Spain)
11 Kostas SLOUKAS – PG 6’4” (Olympiacos-Greece)
12 Kostas KAIMAKOGLOU – PF 6’9” (Uniks Kazan-Russia)
13 Giannis ANTETOKOUNMPO – SF 6’11” (Milwaukee Bucks-USA)
14 Ian VOUGIOUKAS – C 7’0” (Umiks Kazan-Russia)
15 Georgios PRINTEZIS – PF 6’9” (Olympiacos-Greece)
 
Head Coach: Fotsis KATSIKARIS (Bizkaia Bilbao-Spain)
 
Noticeably absent from the line-up is the legendary Vassilis Spanoulis and Sofoklis Schortsanitis—otherwise known as “Baby Shaq”. Also no longer at the helm is erstwhile coach Panagiotis Giannakis who gravitated towards Asia after leading Greece to that incredible win over the USA in the 2006 Worlds and became the head man for team China. Of course it had to be during the FIBA Asua Championship last year in Manila that the Chinese would suffer their biggest debacle in their storied basketball history when they not only finished fifth in the tournament, but were relegated by their long time territorial rival Chinese-Taipei.
 
In the case of Spanoulis—besides advancing in age—he was one of the catalysts in the revolt against the Hellas Basketball Federation and while resolutions have already been garnered, the gritty former skipper has been excluded from the selection process. Schortsanitis’ career has been cut short by injuries.
 
However, the present day national team is stacked. They are tall and quick, and new coach Fotsis Katsikaris is just coming off his first feting as Eurpoean Coach of the Year after turning around a dismal Bizkaia Bilbao franchise in the Spanish ACB Liga Endesa into a contender in barely three years of handling the team.
 
Katsikaris is a young and ambitious coach and has the necessary tools to make it deep in Spain. Off the bat, they have the presence of two legitimate NBA cagers in the Grizzlies’ Calathes (who made a difference in a lot of Fantasy leagues last season as Free Agent pick up after Mike Conley got injured) and the youthful and potential-laden Antetokounmpo who made a major splash as a late bloomer for the awful Bucks in the 2013-2014 season.
 
Calathes is quick yet burly enough to cause matchup problems at the point guard position and has an extraordinarily high basketball IQ as well as being very unselfish. That bodes well for known scorers like Antetokounmpo, who thrives on the secondary break and backdoor situations.
 
At 6’11”, Antetokounmpo still thinks he’s 6’6” and is in fact listed as a shooting guard in the Milwaukee roster. The scary prospect is he’s still a teenager and is rapidly realizing that he has immense talent. It won’t be long before Antetokounmpo will start drawing comparisons to Kevin Durant and the 2014 FIBA World Cup could serve as his coming out party—to the dismay of Gilas and the rest of Group B.
 
Their veterans also come with solid credentials, having had vast experience in the trenches of the European circuit.
 
I’ve had the opportunity to cover a handful of games from Liga Endesa and the most impressive campaigners in that level have been the Greek trio of Zisis, Vasileiadis and Papanikolaou for various reasons.
 
Zisis—who now sees action in the Russian league—is a combo guard whose skills I see a lot in someone like Chris Tiu. He’s highly intelligent, reads situations adeptly and has sick range. The biggest difference between him his local counterpart is that Zisis is 6’6”.
 
Vasileiadis is a knockdown three point specialist in the mold of a Marcio Lassiter, except that he’s 6’7”. One positive Vasileiadis brings is his tenacity as he won’t be shy to mix it up crashing for offensive boards and taking on opposing guards head-on. He’s also a minutes monger and has been known to play tirelessly for the entire forty minutes. Before heading to Turkey to play for Anadolu Efes, he spent a good portion of his career with Unicaja Malaga in the ACB and led the league in minutes. That’s hard to find; a hard-nosed defender who barely gets into foul trouble, but he’s more heralded for his perimeter game.
 
Papanikolaou impressed now Alaska Aces Head Coach Alex Compton and myself when he joined FC Barcelona in the Spanish league and became an impact player off the bench. Despite his wide frame, he seamlessly slips though defenses to become one of the leaders in offensive rebounding as well as having the ability to clog the lane against would be penetrators. Let’s just say he’s a Beau Belga clone—except he plays a stretch-four.
 
The rest of the team are role players capable of becoming the star on any given game, and that’s the luxury that Katsikaris has at his disposal.
 
Can Gilas topple the mighty wild card entrants?
 
The biggest key for the Pinoys in this match-up will have to come from their outside shooting and their ability to break down the Greek defenses by virtue of the dribble-drive. If Jeff Chan, Gary David and Jimmy Alapag can earn their respect to be defended on the perimeter, then Andray Blacthe might just get his touches.
 
Forget about playing the Greeks in the halfcourt set on offense as they’re just too long and hefty. Greece will come out with a zone defense and make Gilas shoot a lot of semi-challenged triples. If they fall, they will man up and that’s when the dribble-drive becomes effective against this gigantic squad.
 
On defense, the Philippines will also have to try and get results using the zone defense. Going man-to-man will allow many opportunities to go backdoor and Antetokuonmpo and company may just set tournament records for highest field goal percentage. Gilas must scrap and force transition turnovers (LA Tenorio and Jayson Castro can give Calathes and back-up Vaggelis Mantzaris problems bring down the ball) as well as ball hawk in the post. It may cost quite a few fouls, but at least the harmonious halfcourt game the Greeks are strong at may be diffused.
 
If Croatia looks like a tall order, I guarantee the Greeks will be an even stiffer challenge for Gilas. But again, as a prayerful basketball-passionate nation, the Pinoys will always have a fair chance at pulling off a world class upset. If it happens against Greece, then we could make a run at the second round.
 
Let’s all continue supporting Gilas. They’re not in Spain to see the sights. They’re there to become the sight to be seen; an upset-conscious contingent just waiting for the right time to strike.
 
 So to Giannis and the Greeks, the question is are you ready for Gilas Pilipinas?
 
 
Follow Noel Zarate on Twitter (@NoelZarate) and email sportztackle@yahoo.com