Two wins, one in a friendly, in 14 games is not a good history. But when this one is perhaps the greatest feat in its glorious history National basketball, then it will be forever memorable and a source of inspiration for the future. Greece and USA meet today for the second matchday of the third group of the World Cup (15:40) and the mind cannot help but go back 17 years.
Christos Robolis writes from Manila
Of course no one forgets, nor is going to forget, that 101-95 over the Dream Team in the semi-final of the World Cup, on September 1, 2006 in Saitama17 years rather than a few days ago now… The National team won its only world medal beating the Americans at their own game and that scrimmage was their last in an official match until their loss at the World Cup in China.
The first official match between the two teams was on 1990, at the World Cup in Buenos Aires, when the USA won 103-95 in overtime in the opener. The National Team, without Galis in that event, but with leaders Giannakis (23p.) and Christodoulou (21p.), as well as Fasoula doing an excellent job against Alonzo Mourning, led for the longest duration of the match, while at the end of normal duration the basket of Galacteros which would have given a historic victory was deemed overdue.
The two teams met again four years later, in Toronto. THE Dream Team 2 in the semi-final had crushed the Greek team 97-58, which became the first to keep it below 100 points. Efthymis Bakatsias with 12 and Kostas Patavoukas with 10 points were the first Greek scorers, while Reggie Miller with 14 was the one with the most production from Don Nelson’s team.
In 1996, just before the Atlanta Olympics, the USA had crushed Greece 128-62 in a friendly in Indianapolis in front of 36,000 spectators. Frangiskos Albertis with 14 and Nikos Oikonomou with 11 points were saved by the group of Makis Dendrinos, while Reggie Miller with 21 was again outstanding.
The 1998 the two teams met in the small final of the Athens World Cup, with Team USA, lined up without an NBAer, winning 84-61. From the team of Panagiotis Giannakis, Dimitris Papanikolaou and Giorgos Kalaitzis stood out with 18 and 15 points respectively.
To them Athens Olympic Games, 2004, the National team looked in the eyes of the NBAer but lost 77-71 in Elliniko, despite the excellent performance of Antonis Fotsis (22pt.) and Lazaros Papadopoulos (14pt.). The Americans were also victorious in the Beijing Olympics, 92-69, with Kobe Bryant (18 points), Chris Bosh (18 points), Dwyane Wade (17 points) and LeBron James (13 points) making the difference. Thodoris Papaloukas with 15 and Vassilis Spanoulis with 14 points stood out from the Greek team.
At August 25, 2010, on the eve of the World Cup in Turkey, the friendly at OAKA was held in a strange atmosphere, as a few days before it had been preceded by the… kickball game with Serbia at “Acropolis”. Mike Szyzewski’s team, with Durant and Rose among their dozen others, had imposed 87-59. Kostas Tsartsaris with 24 points was the leader of the match.
The previous official match between the two teams was for second phase of the World Cup, in 2019 in Shenzhen, China. With a very “phobic” appearance, against a Team USA that was eventually ranked seventh, the Greek team was defeated 69-53. Giannis Antetokounmpo finished the match with a double-double (15 points-13 rebounds), but with 32% shooting, nobody ever won.
Prehistory ends with the pre-tenday friendly in Abu Dhabi, where Greece was defeated 108-86 paying for the bad start and finish in the match.
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 / Marousi) 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 / Maroussi) Greece – USA 59-87
07/09/2019 (World Cup / Shenzhen) Greece – USA 53-69
19/08/2023 (Friendly match / Abu Dhabi): Greece – USA 86-108
Source: Sport Fm
I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
