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In his last press conference in Cyprus, Spanoulis stated that Giannis Antetokounmpo doesn’t get the same calls that the other Eurobasket stars are getting. As he said: “One more time, I have seen a lot of difference in the number of free throws. I have to see the game again. In such a game, one team can’t have 37 attempts and the other 19. You can’t have Luka (Doncic) and other players taking 20-23 free throws per game and Giannis begging to get a foul while getting hacked. “

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Vassilis Spanoulis: “At least to times, he should have been awarded unsportmanlike fouls, and we have to face everybody with the same criteria. If we face Luka, Jokic, and Sengun, Markkanen, like this, we have to face Giannis the same way. Just 12 free throws are few for Giannis; he could have had another 10 for sure. We have a team in which we respect everybody, and first of all, me, as a person, I respect a lot coach Scariolo and Spain, which has accomplished amazing things over the last 15 years, but I have to be fair with myself and the game, and to say the truth”.

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With Giannis Antetokounmpo falling one assist shy of a triple-double, Greece prevailed, 90-86, over Spain, eliminating the previous champions from EuroBasket 2025. In a packed Spyros Kyprianou Arena filled with MVP chants, the Milwaukee Bucks superstar in the NBA dropped 25 points behind 9/15 two-pointers and 7/12 free throws. The Freak grabbed 14 rebounds to shape his first double-double in the tournament, alongside nine assists, lasting nearly 32 minutes. Tyler Dorsey followed with 22 points, including 14 in the first quarter, setting the pace for an early 16-point lead.

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Jorge Sierra: Spain finished the Eurobasket in 17th place, the worst ranking ever for the National Team in a major FIBA tournament. (Obviously, it's worse not to qualify.) The talent pipeline dried up over the last decade and it's finally showing on the big stage.

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Italy had already secured qualification before the tip-off, but the game was a real battle for survival, decided by the young blood of both teams. When all was said and done, Italy got the 67-63 over Spain, which is in danger of ending the Eurobasket in two days. After this result, Italy is tied with Greece with a 3-1 record, which needs to beat Spain in the last round to secure the top spot in the Group C standings. If Spain loses to Greece and Bosnia beats Georgia, then Spain will finish 5th in the standings.

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Greece has already qualified for the Eurobasket Round of 16. Giannis Antetokounmpo (knee) and Giannoulis Larentzakis (back) were rested after sustaining minor injuries, and the game started with a 34-21 lead over Bosnia. In the end, however, Bosnia got its second win of the tournament with the final score being 80-77, and can also hope to qualify depending on the result on the last day of the tournament against Georgia.

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Thanks to an amazing 18-0 run, Bosnia turned things around, led 39-34 two minutes before the end of halftime, and never looked back. Naturalized guard John Roberson, with 18 points, was the top scorer of the winners. Jusuf Nurkic also scored 18 points and had 10 rebounds, and Edin Atic also scored 15.

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Christos Tsaltas: Asked Jusuf Nurkic if Giannis Antetokounmpo's absence changed the game plan for Bosnia. "It didn't change a lot. We had the same attachment on offense or defense. Regardless of who gonna play there, you have to have the same discipline. "#EuroBasket #GREBIH @athletiko_gr

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Asked if the game played a role in the signing, Thanasis admitted that it did: “For sure. They were here after the first game against Italy, and they were excited because I was playing defense. I was doing my job, that’s my role. The important thing is that everyone who returns (after such an injury) with a team, or in a tournament like this, has to prove themselves again. That’s basketball. Whatever you have done so far counts; it’s your resume, but you have to prove it every day. That’s professional sports”.

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In the aftermath of the game between Greece and Georgia, Vassilis Spanoulis was asked to compare Greek Hall-of-Fame Nikos Galis and Giannis Antetokounmpo, not on the court but as cultural personalities in Greece. Spanoulis didn’t hesitate to explain that while Giannis is one of a kind, there’s simply no modern Greek basketball without Galis and his generation. As Spanoulis said: “I cannot compare, everybody in Greece started playing basketball because of Galis and all this great generation. Galis, Giannakis, Fasoulas, Fanis Christodoulou, and all the other guys. And now there’s a different generation. After them, we got to our generation, we won three medals in five years, and now we are trying to build a new generation”.

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Rivers, who plans to stay in Cyprus for three or four days, will watch at least two games. He added that observing the movement, spacing, and team coordination is particularly valuable. "I love watching the movement and how they play. I always steal plays, I watch it, and I take some of these plays back home and I run them. Yeah, I love all the movement, all the elbow action."

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Ham highlighted how Giannis emphasizes teamwork in the international setting. "He's trying to involve his teammates and allow his teammates to help him help them. It's more team oriented, more sets and all of that here is different. They don't play as fast as we do in the NBA, but in NBA, his usage rate is off the charts. He constantly has the ball in his hands, so a little bit different role for him over there."

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Stopping Antetokounmpo has long been the unsolvable puzzle of European basketball, and Gallinari was honest about the challenge Italy faced: “It’s always difficult to stop him. I think we did a good job, but he’s so hard to guard. We were close a few times to tying the game or going ahead, but against him you need 40 minutes of intensity and energy," Gallinari told BasketNews in a postgame chat.

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“I missed this a lot. I am grateful. This is why I give it my all. You won’t be playing forever, and I don’t know another way. This is the way I play,” Thanasis Antetokounmpo commented on bringing his energy to the senior national team of Greece.

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