They got there in the end but it came with plenty of drama. It wasn’t the colour Greece wanted in Riga but, after 16 years of waiting, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the rest of the roster will be thrilled to finally win a medal. The Greeks were just too much for a Finland side that was chasing the game throughout. Lauri Markkanen battled hard, Miikka Muurinen had his moments, but Finland couldn’t quite claw it all the way back in the battle for bronze.
Time and context matter. Greece lost their first four trips to the bronze medal game in EuroBasket. Those teams, fresh from the history-making Nikos Galis era, anything less than gold was considered a failure.
After failing to make a medal round of any tournament since 2009, this bronze should be celebrated. EuroBasket 2025 may not have been the dream tournament Giannis Antetokounmpo hoped for but he finally has a medal with Greece. His side was just that bit too much for Lauri Markkanen and Miikka Muurinen in Riga.
Barely out of first gear
Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t have to push too hard to have an enormous impact in this game. In the first half, Giannis had 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists without really forcing himself too hard.
His game was a simple one. He made Mikael Jantunen feel all kinds of pressure on both ends, forcing Finland to bring supporting defenders repeatedly. He rarely even looked at moving to the perimeter on either end. It was just fundamental big man play with an added dash of vision.
That Finland looked exhausted probably helped Greece as a whole. Tyler Dorsey repeatedly got great looks on the outside while Vasileios Toliopoulos had similar good fortune off the bench. With Kostas Papanikolaou happily playing a more off-ball role, everything clicked nicely.
Miikka Muurinen has his moment
Giannis Antetokounmpo gets to go home with a bronze medal while Lauri Markkanen added to his legend at EuroBasket 2025. The man who probably gained the most traction in terms of upswing was undoubtedly Miikka Muurinen.
The 18 year old, who still has a year of high school left, was unsurprisingly the energy guy for Finland here. Lassi Tuovi had rationed Muurinen’s minutes throughout the tournament. That meant he was the one option off the bench really capable of troubling Greece.
Muurinen had a couple of exaggerated dunks, he cocks his arms back substantially mid-air before exploding, that got the crowd going. It also made the game seem a touch more competitive before Greece adjusted.
Once they did, this one was over in a hurry. The Greek bench clearly had a point to prove after Friday’s disappointing display against Türkiye and they stepped up big to rally big late in the half to seemingly seal the medal.
BallinEurope is ramping up its YouTube game this season. Subscribe to our channel now for player exclusives, analysis videos, and much more.
Giannis had to go back to work
There was a wobble by Greece in the third quarter as they simply lost a step at both ends of the floor. Finland cut the gap into something manageable repeatedly. The looks simply weren’t being created with as much ease and their previously stout D had some slippage.
Two Giannis Antetokounmpo drives did the work to calm things down. Those buckets, the second of which led to Miikka Muurinen picking up his 4th foul while still in the third quarter, woke up the rest of the Greece roster.
Even with Giannis sitting, to get a quick injury check after the contact with Muurinen, Greece got their act together. Kostas Sloukas and Kostas Antetokounmpo spurred things in both the front and back courts. The Susijengi rallied hard to give Greece all kinds of scares late in the game but it was too little, too late.
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.
Miikka Muurinen’s dunks were a photographer’s dream throughout EuroBasket 2025. (Credit FIBA)
A moment to cherish
Giannis Antetokounmpo has been with the Greece national team since 2014. For more than half of his time there, he has been the primary option. Despite some sensational displays at major tournaments, he had never stood on a podium alongside his national team colleagues.
Here, with both his brothers Kostas and Thanasis, and watched by Greek legends Theo Papaloukas and Dimitris Diamantidis, he had done it. It wasn’t gold but it was something. Greece is part of European basketball royalty yet had been absent when it mattered most for over a decade.
With their greatest single home grown talent ever produced, Giannis Antetokounmpo had brought them back. It may have come at the tail end of the careers of key men like Kostas Sloukas and Kostas Papanikolaou, but it was enough. There’s a tangible reward after all those years of frustration.
Leave a Reply