The last 16 of EuroBasket 2022 is here and the final game of the round promises to be the Greek Freak show as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece battle Czech Republic
All games from now on are at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin, Germany
When?
20.45 CEST, 19.45 BST, 14.45 EST, 11.45 PST
How they got here
Greece (5-0) got good tests in wins over Italy, Croatia, and Ukraine, despite the lopsided winning margin in the last of those, as well as two comfortable wins over Estonia and Great Britain. Dimitris Itoudis couldn’t have drawn up a better prep run for the knockout run if he’d tried.
Czech Republic (2-3) made it through thanks to a last day win over Israel to go with their win over Netherlands but they also lost to Finland, Poland, and Serbia.
Need to know
Tomas Satoransky is certainly giving all he can for Czech Republic but that’s essentially forced him to be creator only as he’s just too hurt to be a reliable shooter for them right now and that’s a big problem for the side that hosted Group D.
Greece finally have everyone rolling, albeit with Georgios Papagiannis still not looking quite 100 per cent, and will naturally be led by Giannis Antetokounmpo who did all that was necessary of him and more to enhance his MVP case during the group phase.
BallinEurope is ramping up its YouTube game this season. Subscribe to our channel now for player exclusives, analysis videos, and much more.
Miscellaneous extras
Five years really is a long time in basketball. The Greek team that made the quarter finals in 2017 had to do so with grit and spite because it clearly wasn’t playing at the level of a contender but having arguably the best player alive can do wonders for your prospects.
A year ago, Czech Republic made it all the way to the Olympics which was their first ever trip there since splitting from Slovakia. They also finished 6th in their first ever World Cup appearance since the split in 2019 but it feels like their golden era is at a turning point and a decline could well be coming as Jan Vesely gets older.
BallinEurope has a book, a real life actual book called I Like it Loud, and you can buy it on Amazon now. It’s here as a book and here in Kindle form.
What do the bookies say?
Greece are, unsurprisingly, big favourites at 7/50 while Czech Republic is priced at 32/5. The point spread favours Greece by -12.5
What do we say?
This one is going to be an absolute mauling. Giannis and company will want to put on one hell of a sow in their first knockout game and the win over Israel felt like a final gasp from this Czech team to give the fans in Prague something to cheer about.
The pick
Greece with the points.
Leave a Reply