Skourtopoulos: “We played with a level of concentration”
Head coach of the Greek national team, Thanasis Skourtopoulos, shared his opinions after beating Montenegro at the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
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Living up to their tag as favourites, Greece played excellent basketball at times against Montenegro in their maiden game of the World Cup in China, claiming a confident 85-60 victory after a fantastic first half. The solid Greek defending was particularly impressive.
Greece will next play Brazil at the competition on Tuesday.
“This is a good day for us, because we managed to begin the competition with a victory,” stated Skourtopoulos. “However, it wasn’t an easy game, and the score doesn’t reflect how difficult it was for us. Montenegro have a good team. I didn’t expect the score to be so large. We played with a serious mentality, and for the first game of the tournament I thought that we played with a good concentration level.”
“Now, we have to focus on playing against Brazil,” continued the Greek manager. “You can be sure that we are full of motivation to achieve something at this competition.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo, who managed to score 10 points against Montenegro, noted the importance of the victory: “This is a very important victory for us,” said the Most Valuable Player of the 2018/2019 NBA season. “If we continue giving 100% on the court, we will be fine at this competition. The support of the fans is a wonderful feeling, but I’m trying to concentrate on my job. I am not the most important player of this team. We have guys like Giorgos Papagiannis, Nick Calathes, Giorgos Printezis and Giannis Bourousis who can make the difference too.”
“There is no limit to our possibilities,” revealed Antetokounmpo when asked about Greece’s chances at the tournament. “I am really happy to be wearing the Greek jersey again. The possibility of playing the USA in the next phase? We’re not thinking about that yet. My MVP award is in the past. I must help my team in any way possible.”
The experienced Giorgos Printezis also shared his feelings from the victory: “Just like in the first match of any tournament, we were a little nervous. The fact we played well in defence helped us earn the victory. Giannis is certainly the leader of this team, all of us want to keep improving everyday. We proved that we play as a team. We must qualify for the next stage of the competition with confidence.”
