Insolent at 3-points, Germany takes Greece out of the Euro! – BasketUSA

Host country of this final phase of the EuroBasket, Germany had to rub shoulders with Greece of Giannis Antetokounmpo to hope to reach the last four of “its” competition for the fourth time in its history, and the first time since 2005. this formidable Greek team, which dreamed of reaching the semi-finals of the Euro for the tenth time in its history, and the first time since 2009, the Mannschaft managed to stop the course of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s teammates (31 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals). Thanks to the superb performance of Dennis Schröder (26 points and 8 assists), irreproachable in his role as national leader, and thanks to an excellent second half, dominated from the head and shoulders. Jostled, Greece make the round back thanks to Giannis In front of the boiling public of the Mercedes-Benz Arena, this quarter-final leaves in any case very, very strong. This is evidenced in particular by the insolent success at 3-pts by all the Germans: 4/4 to start, then finally 8/10 over the whole of the first quarter! Despite the aggressiveness of the opposing defense, and especially the two-man (or even three-man) catches, Giannis Antetokounmpo did not disassemble in this hostile atmosphere. In power, with an and-one, the “Greek Freak” is admirable in keeping the Greeks in contact. Altruistic, he also does not forget to serve his unmarked teammates, behind the arc or in the paint. Still, after ten rather rhythmic minutes, Germany is in the lead (31-27). More and more physical, the meeting is then balanced, but the Mannschaft remains in front, thanks to its devilishly effective team in attack. Without panicking, Greece maintained a respectable gap with their opponent, snatching several essential offensive rebounds to do so. Precious with their skill at 3-pts, Giannoulis Larentzakis and Andreas Obst respond to each other in a duel of triggers but, as the clock ticks down, the players of Dimitris Itoudis gain the upper hand over those of Gordon Herbert. It then takes several shots of the accelerator from Dennis Schröder to revive the Germans at the end of the half, while Giannis Antetokounmpo and Tyler Dorsey carry the Greeks into the opposite camp. Finally, on a (very) distant basket at the buzzer from Kostas Sloukas, the visitors took two possessions ahead at the break (61-57). The Greek ship capsizes under a rain of 3-pts… As at the start of the match, Germany returns from the locker room unplayable offensively, where it sets a lot of pace, and especially defensively, where it has clearly moved up a notch. Such an effective recipe necessarily results in the score, since Greece cashes a stinging… 20-1 in seven minutes! Without a solution and unable to react, because mentally affected, Giannis Antetokounmpo and his family find themselves dropped on the scoreboard, while Franz Wagner and his teammates are in a state of grace, in particular at 3-pts. Despite the wall of defenders standing in front of him (he suffered a five-man catch!), the “Greek Freak” tried to wake up his troops, in his own register. But nothing helped: the gap was indeed widened at the end of the third quarter (83-71). Giannis and Schroder expelled! Without Giannis Antetokounmpo, left briefly to rest, Greece is trying to hold the shock, even to pick up. Without success, which quickly forced Dimitris Itoudis to put his superstar back into play. Jostled, the “Greek Freak” struggled, but his teammates were in the hole, while the Mannschaft relied on a gala collective and continued to artillery in all directions. Finally, after long minutes where the two teams went blow for blow, it was the Germans who triumphed in front of a delirious crowd (107-96). Above all, just to drink the chalice to the dregs, Giannis Antetokounmpo was sent off five minutes from the end, for a second unsportsmanlike foul. Note that Dennis Schröder will join him a few moments later, due to a second technical foul. Too skilful (17/21 at 3-pts, 18/21 in throws), too armed collectively (five players at 10 points or more) and just too strong for the Greeks, Germany joins Spain in the semi-finals of “his” EuroBasket. Germany Shots Rebounds Players Min 2pts 3pts LF Off Def Tot Pd Fte Int Bp Ct Pts Maodo Lo 24:14 0/4 1/4 0/0 1 0 1 2 1 1 0 0 3 Niels Giffey 13:18 1/1 0/ 0 1/2 2 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 3 Nick Weiler-babb 10:13 2/3 0/0 2/2 0 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 6 Johannes Voigtmann 22:58 1/4 2/4 0 /0 1 5 6 2 4 0 0 1 8 Franz Wagner 26:18 2/5 5/7 0/0 0 4 4 1 2 1 4 1 19 Daniel Theis 29:19 5/10 1/2 0/2 6 10 16 1 2 0 1 1 13 Dennis Schroder 31:00 5/9 3/6 7/7 0 3 3 8 5 1 4 0 26 Jonas Wohlfarth-bottermann 05:54 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 Justus Hollatz 00:49 0/0 0/1 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Johannes Thiemann 13:58 2/3 0/0 6/6 2 1 3 0 3 3 1 0 10 Andreas Obst 21:10 1/2 5/7 2/2 1 3 4 1 3 0 0 0 19 Christian Sengfelder 00:49 0/1 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Greece Shots Rebounds Players Min 2pts 3pts LF Off Def Tot Pd Fte Int Bp Ct Pts Tyler Dorsey 23:55 3/5 2/7 1/1 1 3 4 0 0 0 2 1 13 Michail Lountzis 02:06 0/0 0/0 0/ 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 Giannoulis Larentzakis 17:10 1/1 4/4 4/6 1 3 4 1 3 1 0 0 18 Dimitrios Agravanis 10:24 2/4 0/0 3/3 0 3 3 0 2 0 0 0 7 Nick Calathes 23:49 1/2 0/4 0/2 1 0 1 4 4 1 0 0 2 Kostas Sloukas 23:24 0/2 1/4 5/5 1 1 2 3 3 0 2 1 8 Georgios Papagiannis 16:32 3/4 0/0 0/0 2 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 6 Kostas Papanikolaou 28:01 1/2 1/4 2/2 1 2 3 0 2 1 0 0 7 Ioannis Papapetrou 14 :12 0/0 0/1 0/0 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 Giannis Antetokounmpo 30:13 12/17 1/5 4/8 1 6 7 8 2 3 5 0 31 Kostas Antetokounmpo 00:49 0/ 0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Thanasis Antetokounmpo 09:25 2/4 0/0 0/0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 4 Photo credit: FIBA.com