Poor but only with victories is its history National basketball team against Montenegro, its opponent on Sunday in Manila for its second leg World Cup. In five matches, two of which are friendlies, the Greek team has the same number of victories. But in two of these cases the end was bitter for the “official sweetheart”.
Christos Robolis writes from Manila
The first official match between the two teams had come in the first phase Eurobasket 2011 in Alitus, Lithuania. Then Ilias Zouro’s team, shocked by an unexpected defeat by Macedonia of… McCaleb, reacted brilliantly by winning 71-55. Kostas Koufos in perhaps his best game with Andron had 19 points against Nikola Pekovic (15 points, 7 rebounds), while the still young Nikola Vucevic had 4 points.
However, the most… bitter memory from a match with Montenegro had come on August 2017 in a friendly in Belgrade. The Nationals had won hard, 83-81, with Giannis Antetokounmpo having 20 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists, but not playing again that summer due to a knee problem.
The Greek Freak was back stronger two years later. Her September 1, 2019, the National team’s World Cup debut was deafening, dismantling Montenegro 85-60 in Nanjing, China. The Bucks superstar had played just 15:56 having 10 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist and 1 block. Giorgos Papagiannis was the leader of the Greek team with 15 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks, winning the duel with Nikola Vucevics who had 12 points with 3 rebounds. However, the continuation was not happy for the Greek team, which found itself in a disadvantageous position after the defeat by Brazil, and its course in the competition had stopped at the “16”.
The prehistory in detail:
01/07/2009 (Mediterranean Games / Pescara): Greece-Montenegro 85-67
04/09/2011 (Lithuania Eurobasket / Alitus): Greece-Montenegro 71-55
11/08/2017 (Friendly / Belgrade): Greece / Montenegro 83-81
08/09/2018 (Friendly / Paris): Greece / Montenegro 87-76
01/09/2019 (World Cup / Nanjing) 85-60
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.
