Her penultimate friendly before the World Cup gives the National basketball team tonight (19:00, Action 24, COSMOTE Sport 4, News Bulletin 247, sport-fm.gr) facing the powerful USA team at the ultra-modern “Etihad Arena” in Abu Dhabi.
Christos Robolis writes from Abu Dhabi
THE Dimitris Itoudiswhich probably won’t have him available Kostas Papanikolaou, who arrived at the Emirates on Thursday night after the birth of his daughter yesterday, is expecting to see progress in the pieces of homogeneity in defense and attack he is working on. In fact, the game is also a good rehearsal for the upcoming tournament, as the Americans are in the same group as the Greek team and will face them on August 28 in Manila (15:40). On Saturday, the “official favorite” completes its friendlies by facing Germany again at the “Etihad Arena” (19/8, 19:00). After these two games, the federal coach will definitively decide on both players who will be “cut” from the final dozen that will travel to Manila.
THE Team USA has a powerful roster, without the huge names like LeBron, Curry and Durant, but with excellent younger players who are also very motivated. Its top players in the friendlies it has given are Branson (Knicks) and Edwards (Timberwolves), however the excellent technical team consisting of Steve Kerr, Erik Spoelstra and Tyronn Lue has a roster overflowing with athleticism and talent at his disposal. In friendlies so far, the USA is 3/3 beating Puerto Rico (117-74) in Las Vegas and then Slovenia (92-62) and Spain (98-88) in Malaga.
The USA roster
Paolo Banquero (12/11/2002 – 2.08m – F) Orlando Magic
Michael Bridges (30/08/1996 – 1.98m – G/F) Brooklyn Nets
Jaylen Brunson (31/08/1996 – 1.88m. – G) New York Knicks
Anthony Edwards (08/05/2001 – 1.93m – G/F) Minnesota Timberwolves
Tyrese Haliburton (29/02/2002 – 1.96m – G) Indiana Pacers
Josh Hart (03/06/1995 – 1.93m – G/F) New York Knicks
Brandon Ingram (02/09/1997 – 2.04m – F) New Orleans Pelicans
Jaren Jackson (15/09/1999 – 2.08m – C) Memphis Grizzlies
Cameron Johnson (03/03/1996 – 2.03m – F) Brooklyn Nets
Walker Kessler (26/07/2001 – 2.13m – C) Utah Jazz
Bobby Portis (10/02/1995 – 2.11m – PF) Milwaukee Bucks
Austin Reaves (29/05/1998 – 1.96m – SG) Los Angeles Lakers
History with USA at the Men’s level
Greece and USA have faced each other 13 times at Men’s level. The one and only victory of the “official favorite” was in the semi-final of the 2006 World Cup 101-95 in Saitama and was accompanied by the silver medal in the event. The most recent matchup was at the 2019 World Cup in Shenzhen, China, where the USA took a 69-53 victory in the second group stage. In detail, the pre-history of the Greece-USA matches:
26/07/1975 (Intercontinental Cup / Athens) Greece – USA 69-94
12/08/1975 (Intercontinental Cup / Ohio) USA – Greece 104-56
05/24/1977 (Friendly match / Athens) Greece – USA 83-81
03/25/1978 (Friendly match / Zaragoza) Greece-USA 75-95
08/08/1990 (Mundobasket / Buenos Aires) Greece – USA 95-103
13/08/1994 (Mundobasket / Toronto) USA – Greece 97-58
13/07/1996 (Friendly match / Indianapolis) USA – Greece 128-62
09/08/1998 (Mundobasket / Maroussi) Greece – USA 61-84
08/17/2004 (Olympic Games / Greek) Greece – USA 71-77
01/09/2006 (Mundobasket / Saitama) Greece – USA 101-95
14/08/2008 (Olympic Games / Beijing) Greece – USA 69-92
25/08/2010 (Friendly match / Marousi) Greece – USA 59-87
07/09/2019 (World Cup / Shenzhen) Greece – USA 53-69
Source: Sport Fm
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