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Brutal week for Greek basketball capped with 80-72 loss to Spain

September 5, 2010

Ευχαριστώ για τις αναμνήσεις, Δημήτρη!

Hell of a week for Hellas basketball on both international and national league fronts…

Team Greece was bounced from the 2010 FIBA World Championship by Spain last night in an improved showing from the Russia game, which had Ioannis Bourousis and Vassilis Spanoulis calling out for a little respect from the fans in the aftermath.

And now, with the Spain game (and, for Greece, the 2010 championship) history, bad news is following rapidly. Dimitris Diamantidis announced directly after the loss that he’d be retiring from the national team, effective immediately: “The game with Spain was my last,” Diamantidis declared.

The future of coach Jonas Kazlauskas with the team is also in doubt, as his contract has expired and no overtures have been made to the Lithuanian. In analyzing the tournament, Kazlauskas stated that he “saw a lot of mistakes, [and] some things we did wrong.” He went on to cite the punishments of Antonis Fotsis and Sofoklis Schortsanitis, plus the wrist injury Bourousis played through as further detriments to the team’s success in the 2010 Worlds.

Those turning to Greece’s national league hardly found solace, however, as the biggest EΣAKE story of the week was the punishment handed down to Olympiacos for its fans’ and security detail’s actions which resulted in the Reds’ forfeiture of the final game in the 2009-10 championship series, a.k.a. “The Night of Shame.”

In what can ultimately seen as both a strong judgment yet one still falling well short of appropriate penalty, Olympiacos will be forced to play its first nine home games in an empty arena and without television broadcast.

League officials also assessed the club a fine of €111,000 for insufficiently quelling the eruptions of violence that twice stopped play during the game, and for allowing fans to tote or post nationalistic and/or offensive messages in the arena.

Naturally the Olympiacos braintrust plans to appeal the decision, as, incredibly, they’d expected a penalty of just five or six empty-arena games; officials for the club described the sentence as “predatory,” since there are only 13 home games scheduled for Olympiacos.

Just as predictably (though certainly justified, thinks BiE) were complaints from rival Panathinaikos, eight-time defending champion and victim of the riot conditions on the Reds’ home floor. PAO had expected a deduction in points to be assessed Olympiacos – surely the judgment perpetual third-placers Maroussi BC were also hoping for/awaiting.

Thanks to reader Mika for the heads-up on the Olympiacos story!

Sep 5, 2010ballineurope
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Comments: 19
  1. migala
    15 years ago

    I just want to thank Diamantidis here for so many years of amazing basketball, for his intelligence, for his sportsmanship, for his hoops IQ, his grit and his spirit. I live in Spain (i am from Morocco anyway) and I feel honored that I have been able to watch him compete in international games. I have enjoyed so much his style of play.

    Sorry folks, I was just trying to talk about something positive and unforgettable.

    Thanks, Diamantidis. You will be missed!

    ReplyCancel
  2. milaz
    15 years ago

    Dimitri, we’ll miss you in international competitions. Thank you!

    ReplyCancel
  3. Teo
    15 years ago

    Too many political issues in greek ball right now…there were too many sideplots and issues with fiba between vasilakopoulos and everything went extremely weird. This team that played in the end was not the carefree team that appeared at the friendlies. I never expected this kind of a win, but they didn’t even play nice ball until the spain game. For me it’s ok to lose to spain, that isn;t disappointing. but the whole feeling of something being wrong with greek ball right now cannot be ignored. This brawl started because of Oly-Pao issues and it is clearly obvious that it is taking apart this team. Coach can’t even freely choose to take our best shooter in Vasiliadis because…well, because why? Sadly, the team that has given us the most joy over the years is falling apart a bit. I hope the next generation of guards will live up to the incredible contributions of Dimis and Teo and that Spanoulis remains a few years yet.
    I see a team with Pappas, Papanikolaou and Sloukas sooner rather than later. Maybe it’s for the best…

    ReplyCancel
  4. Teo
    15 years ago

    hey also: where is the post discussing the fact that there were 2 spaniard referees in that game and how one-sided the whistles went. I would love someone here to discuss that, because I remember screaming in anguish over several ridiculous calls.

    ReplyCancel
  5. migala
    15 years ago

    Yeah, it’s all been the fault of the 2 spanish refrees. Nice scapegoat…

    No, seriously, they can be as bad as the worst ones!

    ReplyCancel
  6. Simos
    15 years ago

    Not much to say other than I feel privileged to have watched Dimis’s play. I know this is not the end, and we’ll get to enjoy him with Panathinaikos for 3-4 more years, but as a Greek, I have to say that the last 6 years on the national team, have been nothing short of amazing, and he is one of the primary reasons for it.

    To me he was the rich man’s (billionnaire’s man) glue guy, and a real arxigos (captain). Excluding the NBA, I have to say that along with Siskauskas, he is the best player I got to see in my lifetime.

    ReplyCancel
  7. Os Davis
    15 years ago

    @ Teo, Migala: Well, i personally try to avoid blaming referees for losses (unless it’s Joey Crawford), but even if you’re right, it’s just one more bit of s*** that Greek basketball had to eat these week. Really sorry the way things are going right now in one of Europe’s finest basketball cultures…

    ReplyCancel
  8. Apollo
    15 years ago

    Greece officially appealed and protested the Spain game with FIBA. Due to all the very questionable calls during the game and the fact that they learned after the game that Spain had requested 3 refs that speak Spanish before the game and was granted that. Also that Spanoulis said a ref told him during the game they would not call the fouls for Greece when they drove to the basket.

    http://www.as.com/baloncesto/articulo/grecia-protestara-fiba-arbitraje-espana/dasbal/20100905dasdasbal_3/Tes

    ReplyCancel
  9. migala
    15 years ago

    They also have to appeal for the lack of free throws converted and how badly they attacked the Spanish zone and…well…

    It´s amazing when a team can´t accept a loss and looks for ways to justify it.

    -Spain requesting 3 Spanish speaking refrees?

    -One of them telling Spanoulis (in Spanish I guess) that the fouls woudln´t be called? I am afraid some people live in a fantasy world.

    Yikes!

    ReplyCancel
  10. David
    15 years ago

    One of the refs spoke English and Spanish. I saw the game. It was clearly called in favor of Spain. Greece won the game if not for the refs.

    ReplyCancel
  11. migala
    15 years ago

    I am sure 99,99% of the Greek basketball fans (I don´t know if I have to include here journalists and players) have more class than claiming they lost to Spain because of the refs.

    Get over it. Pull yourself together!

    ReplyCancel
  12. Apollo
    15 years ago

    The game was definitely rigged for Spain. It’s pathetic that anyone is actually trying to say otherwise. And actually, in Greece, at least 90% of the people are saying the game was rigged.

    ReplyCancel
  13. migala
    15 years ago

    “In greece”,
    thanks.,
    Good for you. enjoy,
    So you actually think we paid some malaga vacation to some unknown refs from the Dominican Republic?
    Are you able to any kind of self-criticism?
    Can any moderator stop this?
    thanks.

    THe game was rigged.
    the free throws were rigged.
    the russia-greece game was rigged.
    the critical situation of greek hoops is rigged.

    RIGG OFF, will you?

    ReplyCancel
  14. migala
    15 years ago

    Apollo. I respect Greek players so Much than I refuse to follow this useless discussion. Blame me. Try to find any message from me understimating Greece, but… you are too much. PLease get over it.

    ReplyCancel
  15. migala
    15 years ago

    Also, you link is bogus: http://www.as.com/baloncesto/articulo/grecia-protestara-fiba-arbitraje-espana/dasbal/20100905dasdasbal_3/Tes

    It only says the GREEK press is doubting the result, not the Greek team (thanks God, can you imagine the shame?).

    there you go.

    please accept it

    ReplyCancel
  16. migala
    15 years ago

    Can you prove that Greece “officially appealed”?

    If so it´s a shame.

    but… can you at least officially prove it, my friend Apollo?

    Are they ready to be forgotten?

    PLease prove they can prove they prove they are able to prove they officially appeal…

    Prooooooooooove it.

    ReplyCancel
  17. Luka
    15 years ago

    This site should have done a story on how the refs gifted the game against Greece to Spain. it is one of the most obviously fixed games in the history of FIBA. But this site will not do that because it has too much connections to the NBA.

    The NBA wants everything to look a certain way. Ever since Greece with 12 Euroleague players beat those 12 NBA players they have been getting screwed by the FIBA refs. It started in the 2006 final against Spain and has continued on since then.

    It’s absolutely ridiculous but that is what the power and money of the NBA has done to FIBA. The only way Greece will ever get reffed fairly again is they have a player start in the NBA. It’s so obvious that is what FIBA is doing to them.

    Examples of all the ridiculously blatant blown calls from the game are all over youtube.

    ReplyCancel
  18. baller
    15 years ago

    And what are your comments on Serbia beating Spain? Also fixed? xD

    Serbia FTW

    ReplyCancel
  19. pipo
    15 years ago

    I am Greek. Spain was the better team against Greece and would have probably won anyway, but to say the refs were not for Spain is just blind. Also, game against Serbia was totally rigged for Spain, but Serbia played that much better and had insane 3 point shooting. Spain was being favored consistently the past 4 years in every competition, not just against Greece, but everyone. If you want, check on youtube a video of the 2007 Eurobasket semifinal against Greece, it’s to the point of being funny.

    That should not mean that I do not think Spain wasn’t overall better a bit better than Greece the past 7 years. And of course they bit us quite fairly in the final of 2006, having though had a tremendously easy load till then. It’s just happened that the best generations of Greek and Spanish basketball happened at the same time and Spain was a bit better.

    ReplyCancel
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15 years ago 20 Comments FIBA, More2010 FIBA World Championship, Antonis Fotsis, Dimitris Diamantidis, ESAKE, EuroLeague, Greece, Ioannis Bourousis, Jonas Kazlauskas, Maroussi BC, Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, Sofoklis Schortsanitis, Team Greece, Vassilis Spanoulis, YouTube
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