Olympic Qualifying: Giannis Antetokounmpo Shines For Greece

NBA talent is on display in almost every Olympic qualifying game in Italy, Greece and Iran was no exception.

Greece took on Iran in the opening match of the Olympic qualifying tournament in Italy and it was NBA talent that provided most of the muscle for Greece to beat Iran, 78-53.

Greece was never headed in this extremely one-sided matchup. There were several telling statistics in this match. Iran had 27 turnovers to 15 from Greece. Iran also had only six steals to Greece’s 17.

Giannis Antetokounmpo was the obvious star for Greece, collect 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting in just 19 minutes. His only miss came from beyond the three-point line,where he went 2-for-3.

He had an excellent all-around game with two of each blocks, steals, assists and three rebounds.

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Kosta Koufos played just less than 20 minutes, scoring 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting. He also collected four rebounds

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Thanasis Antetokounmpo played 18 minutes, scoring five points on 2-of-6 shooting. He was also intense on defense with three blocks and two steals.

Nick Calathes was instrumental in setting up the offense. He had only six points on 3-of-5 shooting, but had six assists.

The other player of interest for Greece for those following the NBA players is Dimitios Agravanis, the 59th pick for the Atlanta Hawks in last year’s draft.

He played 19 minutes and scored eight points of 2-of-5 shooting, all from outside the arc. He also was 2-of-2 from the line. He also collected five rebounds on the night.

Iran had a few good players but their best was ex-NBA player Hamed Haddadi, who scored 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting. He also collected four rebounds for the night.

Greece was on top in most statistical categories for the night. They outscored Iran on fast break points, 18-2.

Greece also used their size to their advantage, beating Iran in the paint 34-18.

Greece’s depth was also in evidence tonight with their bench outscoring Iran’s bench 31-7.

The biggest issue for Iran on the night was their turnovers. They has 12 more than Greece and it cost them dearly. Greece outscored Iran in points from turnovers 33-9.

All of this helped Greece shoot 58.3 percent from the field compared to Iran who shot 27.9 percent.

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Greece’s winning margin of 25 was just two points less than their biggest lead of the game.

Both of these two teams have to play the other team in pool A, Mexico. Greece should be able to account for Mexico without too much difficulty.

For Iran however, this will be their only chance to make it into the semi finals as the winner of this game will come second in the group behind Greece.

Greece was only at half pace Monday. Only two of their players played more than a half of basketball and that was only by a minute or two each.

Judging by the current form of the tournament, they will face Italy in the semifinal. The Italians will give more of a fight but will not be able to challenge this Greek team.

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Tuesday we will know more. The next Pool A game is Iran vs Mexico. The next Pool B game is Italy vs Croatia.