WHEN BABY SHAQ & GREECE ELIMINATED LEBRON’S USA

BasketNews crew Donatas Urbonas, Rytis Vysniauskas & Gytis Blazevicius rewatch, react and share behind-the-scenes stories from one of the biggest FIBA upsets ever.
The Greek National Team led by Dimitris Diamantidis, Theodoros Papaloukas, Vassilis Spanoulis & Sofoklis Schortsanitis beat the star-studded Team USA with LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony & Dwight Howard in the 2006 FIBA World Championship semi-final.
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Which other legendary game should we choose for the next video? 👀 Let us know in the comments below ✍ If you enjoyed the video, help us grow by hitting the like button & subscribing to our channel! 🙌 For more content like this visit: basketnews.com Lastly, don't forget to follow us on social media: Twitter: twitter.com/basketnews_com/ Instagram: instagram.com/basketnews/

[@nikoskoukoun5720]

Greece win in Eurobasket 1987 final😊

[@dz4051]

Watch Panathinaikos vs Cska 2009 final

[@megadriver23]

How about the FIBA 1990 world championship bronze medal game overtime thriller my Puerto Rico vs the last team of USA amateurs in fiba world cup Heart breaking lost for my island😪😪

[@abcdefg4160]

Madrid olympiacos 2015 el finals

[@HandOfGodGR]

USSR - Yugoslavia 1986 semi final!

[@HandOfGodGR]

As a greek dude i can't describe the feelings after beating this particular team. As a content creator myself i can tell this is an excellent choice for discussion. Greece didn't hesitate. They scored 100+ points they beat team USA in their own game. This defeat was the reason Kobe joined the american national team.

[@apostolos4658]

Μου αρέσει που στέλνει κατευθείαν σχολείο τον άλλον όταν λέει Μιχάλης who? Και του λέει καμ ον Μιχάλης γουοζ κλπ κλπ

[@bgb5981]

Kobe was the first thing in my head after this podcast

[@alexdhroso9022]

Γίγαντα Νικήτα,άντε και σύντομα collaboration με τα παιδιά😅

[@PAOKTSIS_staurpoupoli_fcknwo]

Γειά σου Νικήτα δύναμη!

[@tasosparpas]

Pes ta re nikita alanii

[@mam3ep]

21:02 you can see a banner which writes "Sepolia" in Greek. That's where Giannis grow up. It was always a neighbourhood that was living about Basketball. And I believe it still is.

[@SpartanLeonidas1821]

FACTS 💯

[@DimShamrock]

Giannis has also said that Sofoklis was his idol growing up.

[@innosanto]

@@DimShamrock he has said Spanoulis and Diamantidis are his idols growing up from Greek team, and then some from US

[@DimShamrock]

@@innosanto Look it up.

[@panagiotisatmatzidis9972]

@@innosanto Spanoulis is Doncic's fav player as well. Tbh the shit Spanoulis put Europe through in those back-to-back (IIRC were back-to-back) Euroleague titles were batshit crazy.

[@nusproizvodjach]

The whole world was supporting Greece. Our Greek brothers did an amazing job, greetings from Serbia.

[@official_7313]

The difference is, Serbia never booed Greece because of jealousy and bad losing behavior. This is the difference between Serbs and Greeks and also they always want the best players for themself even if not real greeks. Many Serbian Players became greek citizenship during the Jugo-Civil war. Gurović, Stojaković, Vukčević..., they still doin it and behave the same today. Trust me, they hate Serbian success but want our trainers and Players.

[@nusproizvodjach]

@@official_7313 There is some truth to it, they did boo us in 95 and 98, but nevertheless I still love Greece and the Greek people :D I mean, we weren't even supposed to play in 95 and then we came and beat them 2 times and won the title, so I can kind of understand the frustration.

[@official_7313]

@@nusproizvodjach i got you, i love many greeks too but they got alot of unsportsmen like behavior.

[@SamuraiCorp]

@@nusproizvodjach We Greeks are like brothers with Serbians.

[@user-vr2is1wo8h]

F@ck the USA

[@thrylos7632]

It makes me really happy you show this game.. and the knowledge you all have about the sport. Respect to Lithuanian basketball history as well. thank you guys🇱🇹🇬🇷 Greece vs Slovenia 63-62 in 2007. Watch this match with Greek commentary guys. Amazing comeback in last minute of the game

[@Pikenrolas566]

Lithuanian* basketball brother 🇱🇹❤️🇬🇷

[@thrylos7632]

@@Pikenrolas566 I will change it in my comment thanks bro 🇱🇹❤️🇬🇷

[@DimShamrock]

Best comeback I've seen in my life. Better than Greece-France. National Team comeback at least. Not counting CSKA's suicide in the 2012 Final against you. That was a system malfunction.

[@thrylos7632]

@@DimShamrock I agree with you. Personally, our comeback against Slovenia was indeed the best.. especially with that commentary it became even more beautiful and unforgettable. And about Cska vs oly match.. yes watching that game back, Cska made some crucial mistakes offensively. It was a complete suicide. Ofcourse we made important shots, but Cska lost this match with a +19 point lead with 12 minutes to go..

[@DimShamrock]

@@thrylos7632 Full disclosure. Only Olympiacos win I enjoyed. Because of CSKA's refereeing injustice in the Semifinal against us, and because you truly deserved it.

[@gmeletis678]

This Greece National team from 2004 to 2008 was one of the best teams in the world..! The comeback against Slovenia in the 2007 quarterfinal in Eurobasket is maybe the most unbelievable that I've watched, alongside the 2012 Euroleague final.. By the way, you're doing a great job with your channel, European basketball is so underrated and it needs a bigger fanbase

[@robertotampioc7318]

Well, European basketball has bigger fan base now compare before….

[@markomarkovic5729]

Greece had a crazy good backcourt with Diamantidis, Spanoulis, Papaloukas and Zisis

[@innosanto]

The big story is how the Greek team started to become sh..t even thoigh had good players in the roster for the next years. A mistake was to change coach and try to change many stuffs.

[@pixytorres7117]

​@@innosanto That wasn't the mistake, it was actually that the academies stopped producing good players. Same thing happened with football after the last good players retired.

[@user-hj8mz3hp3s]

​@@innosanto players became very old spanoulis and bourisis and its win or go fiba system

[@DimShamrock]

6:49 "They could have won gold medal. Spain in the final was without Pau." Oh trust me Rytis. We know. We know.

[@month32]

As we say... Fucking Spain closed my house.

[@DimShamrock]

@Eduardo de Vera Esta bien Ed. What's done is done. I just saw it as a chance.

[@Rousseau4469]

Spain has had and always have many more players and alternatives. If Greece at that point could apply today's methods of recuperating it's team it would stand a small chance to win it.

[@DimShamrock]

@@Rousseau4469 You have a point. They have a bigger talent pool though, bigger resources to bring top level coaches and build better facilities, they bring players from Latin America with whom they can interract and pick their brains. Who knows. Maybe you are right though. Maybe better rest is all we need.

[@Rousseau4469]

@@DimShamrock Today they use ice cold showers that if I am not mistaken it wasn't seen as a great idea at that time and also many top players enter the hyperbaric chambers today for at least one or two hours to send larger amounts of oxygen in their body. Great oxygenation seems to work although we are not 100% sure if there will be negative impacts in the direct or distant future.

[@MrLoukiLouk]

the level of knowledge on the greek players is amazing. These guys know their stuff!

[@RafaelGarcia-eu4lp]

I remember this game perfectly. Papaloukas destroyed the US team in the pick and roll, again and again, I just couldn't believe that the famous coach K had no answer whatsovever for baby Shaq or for the plays with Katzioukis. The US team was totally unprepared for a lesson of great greek basketball. Loved every minute of it.

[@leonfth]

You probably mean Kakiouzis

[@A1._.-_-]

We it helps that the Americans didn't have all their best players too 😂😂😂

[@RafaelGarcia-eu4lp]

@@A1._.-_- Well, LeBron, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Chris Paul, young, but already stars in the NBA were on that team. I don't think the USA has had many rosters stronger than this one.

[@A1._.-_-]

@@RafaelGarcia-eu4lp I can tell you're not very knowledgeable with NBA players or else you wouldn't have said that last sentence 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@A1._.-_-]

@@RafaelGarcia-eu4lp Funny how all Greece has to offer for history against the USA is a small win by six points then losing the next game to the champions by double digit points 😂😂😂

[@douvaman]

i am utterly impressed, and moved by how knowledgeable this guy is about greek basketball… you guys are my new favourite channel

[@minecraftmanos7513]

Thank you guys for including our most historic games! I would suggest Soviet Union - Greece 101-103

[@nickklavdianos5136]

I think everybody that isn't American celebrates when team USA looses in basketball. Us Greeks celebrated when Argentina did it in 04, then again when we did it in 06.

[@ratedpending]

icl a lot of Americans don't really care is the USA loses, I wanna see the game become as international as football

[@DimShamrock]

@@ratedpending You are in the minority my friend.

[@ratedpending]

@@DimShamrock yeah I'd say it's more accurate that people don't care so much when USA basketball wins, since that's just the expectation it's not like USA football/soccer fans, where people who care about the team (albeit a significantly smaller population), care a lot about the success of the team

[@DimShamrock]

@@ratedpending I think you nailed it. When you've had so much success, you take it for granted. Let's say you are a Spurs fan. You probably would not be a big fan of the current status of the team. As a Panathinaikos fan, I get that feeling. Completely. We won 3 Euroleagues in 5 years. (Playing bad basketball though, is a completely different matter, and I have every right to complain.) However that is because you used to win all the time. Every two-three years you had a championship. That's the mindset of the U.S. basketball team's fans. We won all the time in the 70s, 80s and 90s, therefore, we are eternal winners. This is not how it goes though. Every team rises and falls and rises again. Being 2nd or 3rd is not the end of the world. For us it would actually be a great tournament. Not perfect, but great. If you see the Dream Team documentary, how your fellow Americans treat silver and bronze medals. Brother, I would be doing cartwheels, if I had a silver medal in the World Championship, because it's been 17 years since I went that far. Go and watch how they reacted to the 1988 Olympics. How they treated poor Kukoc and the late great Drazen Petrovic in 1992. How David Stern reacted to the draft selection of Arvydas Sabonis by the Trail Blazers. "America's game", he said. No, it's not only America's game. It is a global game.

[@ratedpending]

@@DimShamrock i mostly agree, but I think you're missing the element of anti-Eastern European sentiment that was tolerated in the Cold War United States with some of your examples. Even if the USA didn't have dominant expectations in international basketball, the reactions a lot of people had to Dražen, Arvydas, Toni, etc. would have still, more or less, festered.

[@Sarraqin]

Thanks for doing this, guys. A lot of people have complimented you on your knowledge of Greek basketball players, but I also need to say you have definitely done your homework on how Greek names are pronounced. And this is no easy feat. Congrats on your channel!

[@nikokotoulas]

This Greek national team motivated me to work extremely hard and as a result ended up playing college hoops for 4 years (was also recruited to try a pro career in Greece). I was 12 years old, but remember this game like it was yesterday, my time zone was EST, I woke up at 5am to watch but didn't get timezone right haha. When I turned on the TV, my jaw hit the floor because the game just ended, Greece won and I couldn't stop yelling. My family woke up the entire neighborhood. Me and all my Greek friends at church would re-enact all the major shots that team of legends made. My buddy's last name was also Diamantidis and he would re-enact the one he hit on Lebron James haha. These guys were so inspirational. I am a proud American, these Greeks guys were such underdogs and underrated. This is the best victory in basketball ever. There isn't another game that matched this, this was #1. France and Slovenia was also insane, but this was just on another level. For a country of 10 million to pull this off... still speechless and proud to be Greek!!! Looking forward to getting somewhere in the Olympics with a God-willing healthy squad!

[@Daratsian]

The win against the USA is the one we are most proud of. The win against France in 2005 is the one we remember the most, due to Diamantidis' shot. I am certain that most kids in Greece at some point went to a basketball court trying to recreate the shot with their friends. The most impressive win, for me at least, is against Slovenia in 2007 where we covered a 12 point deficit in the last 2:30 minutes. Great memories from these teams. What a legendary backcourt we had!

[@DimShamrock]

Impressive win, is this one. Against the U.S. When Netflix makes a documentary about you, you know you are doing something right. Most shocking is the one with Slovenia. Talk about a game I thought was over and done with.

[@Komdwy]

@@DimShamrock When did netflix make a documentary about greece?

[@DimShamrock]

@@Komdwy It took 2 years for the US to recover from this loss. The Redeem Team Documentary is basically all about that.

[@A1._.-_-]

@@DimShamrock USA just smacked Greece in the face with a 28 point win a day ago in FIBA LMFAOOOOOOOOO🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@A1._.-_-]

Y'all can live in the past while the USA keeps moving forward 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@SineMetuFreedom]

Top 3 Greek national basketball team games: 1) Greece vs USSR 103-101 (EUROBASKET 87) 2) Greece vs USA 101-95 (FIBA World Cup 06) 3) Greece vs Slovenia 63-62 (EUROBASKET 07) , guys incredible comeback, we were losing by 12, with 2:30 minutes remaining in this game

[@A1._.-_-]

And it stops in 2007 😂😂😂

[@anonymos59]

What about the EuroBasket semifinal against France on 2005??? In all of these tournaments they played great games. For example in 1987 they defeated the great team of Yugoslavia two times.

[@giorgoskourmoulakis4608]

as a greek my favourite greek national team game was the comeback against slovenia eurobasket 2007 ...from 9 points down and 1:40 to go

[@2405giorgos]

your appreciation of greek basketball is a great honour! thanks and keep up the excellent work!

[@mixalisnaf1]

Greece was actually "empty" in the final. Empty of focus,energy and motivation. Thats why Spain won!

[@yiannispalamas1307]

Agree, If Greece had met Spain in semifinal, possibly they would win them and they could face US without this "emptiness". But with "ifs" nobody can rewrite history.

[@innosanto]

Not empty no energy. Definitely empty on focus and empty on maturity. Because Pau Gasol was not playing, and Greek media only talking about Pau and not focusing on any other player, Greek team thought the game would play itself without team playing. It was empty on maturity. An example of bad management. Together with Greece in Mundial in Argentina this was the top1 empty maturity management and this was no2.

[@innosanto]

@@yiannispalamas1307 yes but it is clearly team’s fault no excuses. And Spain won deservedly.

[@yiannispalamas1307]

@@innosanto Of course I agree..

[@yiannispalamas1307]

@Eduardo de Vera I think the defeat came much more because of how the Greek team played bad (for any reason) and not because of the defences of the Spanish. If this was a best of 3 or 5 series, Greeks would win. Anyway, with ifs someone cannot don't rewrite history.

[@Oldvalyrian]

Yo guys as always very good job, nice selection especially for us Greeks. Spain got us off guard in the final, thinking we already won everything. We coulda taken revenge the year after but we witnessed the worst and most disrespectful referring in the history of basketball xD, losing 81-76. Ps. Sofo had an MVP season with maccabi in 2014, ultimately winning the euroleague also! U forgot to mention. Peace!

[@BasketballJunkie1324]

Until today every year on Septermber 1, I rewatch this game. As a Greek basketball fan, this was the peak of my lifetime, and I was only 13 years old

[@soundofeighthooves]

dude its only basketball

[@orlandogloom5409]

dude, the person's username is basketball junkie... :P Besides... Let others have fun with their fav (harmless) hobbies etc without feeling guilty, altho I can see some exaggerations can lead to others which are beyond unhealthy.. but it doesn't seem to be the case here, or at least watching one match occasionally/ several times is not a crime of any kind xD I don't really do that even tho I sure rewatch older goals or highlights etc every now and then, but we all like some nostalgic throwbacks, or no content creator would ever touch such subjects. If marketing of any sort takes advantage of nostalgia you know it must be a huge thing/trend, for quite obvious reasons.

[@markokrivokapic3121]

Always remember that game-Papaloukas and Sofo destroyed USA with simple p&r actions.Howard was looking so helpless first time in his career but before game he was laughing on Sofo's 160kg.After game he was crying alone in toilet,that Hinrich had said,ha ha ha...greetings from Serbia!❤

[@theodorosrakopoulos7726]

Greek here - watching this the day that Lietuva beat the US, 2023. After beating Greece just last night. Wonderful basketball throughout. Our 2004-05 team that won the Eurobasket and then went on to beat LeBron and co. is one of the most beautiful things that happened that decade in Greece... Keep on the excellent work on promoting good bball.

[@ThePitogyro]

What a memorable game! We definitely appreciate the content from these legendary games of Greece! Thank you guys, keep up the good work!

[@DigenisGR]

I was in the army that day doing my service. It was mid-day and we were running all over the place waiting for the new recruits to arrive. I remember like it was yesterday passing from a window with a radio broadcasting the game, listening to the sportcaster with trembling voice describing the last 30 seconds of the game. I sat on my knees and waited... until the celebration of the victory. And for my younger fellow Greeks here, a reminder. Spain wasn't always our Nemesis. Starting from the 1990 World Championship in Argentina, we beat them in every big tournament up to 2006!!!!

[@arkoudiou]

Greece had a packed roster. All of these dudes are legendary, I mean the bench had Spanoulis, Dikoudis, Tsartsaris, Zisis, big Sofo etc. This game will always live in our hearts, one of my best child memories. We were completely heartbroken at the final, Spain dismantled us and we never beat them. USA couldn't really defend the high pick n roll and didn't have centers to contain Sofoklis. We played out best basketball game of all time in that one. Still brings me to tears. Good old days. Thank you for making this video.

[@nestorasbellas6604]

This one was actually my third. The first was Eurobasket 1987 Final against USSR and the second was the semifinal from the same Tournament against united Yugoslavia, the best team of the world back in that day considering USA was not allowed to use professionals until 1992 and they were participating with best College basketball players. We actually won Yugoslavia twice during that tournament. Once for the qualifying group and once more for the Semi's. Still that was the most memorable match of Greek national team of the century but the 2005 Eurobasket semifinal against France was a very close second!

[@giannissouvlakis5250]

We very much appreciate your choices so far!! Many more thought to come in the future. Greetings from Greece!!

[@MrGiovanniOSFP]

One of the greatest games I ever watched. Thanks guys!

[@costasstratilatis3823]

Thanks guys for great content! I watch this after Lithuania's victory over team USA, which I enjoyed so SO much! Personal memory from 2006 Greece victory over team USA: First days of training in the Greek army, of course not allowed to watch the match. The officers had several hundreds of us concentrated on the main plateau executing orders under heat. Somehow the info that our team won sneaks into our lines. Without any order given to us, but keeping our ranks and formation, we started shouting 'Hellas' each time we executed a move.

[@petr79]

add also that one of the key players, Nikos Zisis, was injured with a broken bone due to an intentional elbow hit to the eye by the Brazilian player Varehao. They reconciled few years afterwards as the Brazilian felt guilty. His absence was more felt in the final because he could calm the team playing as pg/sg

[@thewayitsdone7294]

You should check Greece Slovenia 2007 quarterfinal. Biggest comeback ever. And also the semifinal vs Spain right after. The refs pulled some magic there

[@psychospoiler]

It's rare to see guys with so much love and knowledge about oldschool greek and european basketball nowadays. So great

[@Rousseau4469]

You must take in account that the weight issue of Sophocles Schortsianitis was not actually an illness but a condition in which his body tended to pathologically increase his muscle hyperplasia. The antidote to this is proper training which he received in Switzerland after his team Maccabi sent there and he got back at his best form of his life. But he had to follow a very strict dietary schedule and train accordingly to it in order to keep his fat low. It was calculated he had 50% hyperplasia that made the whole process of diet and training quite demanding in which finally he gave in.

[@miralex67]

Slovenia Greece epic comeback. 2:40 before the end the score was 61-49 for Slovenia

[@geokottis7042]

You must really love basketball if you dropped your first day at school when a kid in Lithuania to watch two other national teams lol

[@martinbrice6254]

Well informed, well informed! Good research. I was pretty proud of my country at this day! Noon in a greek cafe in Germany.

[@hmapton]

Lots of love from Greece guys! Thanks for reminding us that awesome game.

[@teenager5847]

I was 19 years old that day.. I was watching the game on the central square of a mountain village in Greece.. The whole village,men,women and children and also tourists were gathered to watch it also.. Alongside us where also, to watch the game, 4 police officers from the local police department. During the very last seconds of the game,with this historical win being imminent,a local got out of his home and started shooting a shotgun in the air. We all thought that the policemen would at least arrest him.In the contrary,they joined him,started empting their sidearms in the air also.. They were immediately joined by a dozen more locals with shotguns,all of them shooting and all of us celebrating,cheering and hugging its other.. It was a magical moment.It was a feelling like somehow we were liberated and celebrating independence ! Thank you for bringing back such a wonderful memory.. Excellent work guys!Keep it up..

[@mikekal98]

Σε ποιο χωριό έγινε φίλε; Δεν παίζει να μην έγινε Κρήτη, οπότε λογικά θα το ξέρω 😂

[@triapoulakia6002]

Great revision of this historic game for us Greeks thank you guys and its schortsianitis like holla

[@JomoPak]

MAN. The Sofo game. I remember it like it was yesterday. I screamed more with this game than I did with the finals (and I'm spanish mates)

[@orlandogloom5409]

Thanks for destroying my impression of Spanish sports' ppl a bit, I usually notice how unhealthily competitive your (bigger) teams are xD :s My opinion of our own usual national teams is similar btw, so many immature (and incompetent when it comes to Greece, especially in football... altho it used to be worse after the 2004 team) ppl involved in sports, to the point I rarely bother to watch any tournament consistently.

[@georgiosstamatopoulos6045]

Love this series guys, keep it up!

[@thebrowski9576]

wonderful job guys ,cheers from Greece!!!

[@alexandros7597]

thxx Guys, u are just GREAT !!! and you know you are the best BASKETBALLCOUNTRY in Europe ! RESPEKT TO YOU !!! THX !

[@user-kp6cm1up9y]

1. 1989 eurobasket semifinal: greeece vs. Ussr. The game against the olympic champions led by Sabonis. This game proved that winning the eurobasket 2 years earlier was no fluke and elevated the 4 players to national icons (galis, giannakis, fassoulas,christodoulou). 2. 2006 world cup semifinal against usa 3. 2005 eurobasket semifinal against france I am leaving out the Eurobasket 1987 tournament.. that was something beyond a basketball moment. It transcended cultural, social, political spheres

[@garden3r]

Great content! Bunch of friends discussing about basketball! Subscribed

[@teddyspencer6969]

I remember perfectly especially because i had 2 friends & i told them that Greece could win, something that they thought was impossible, but they trust my knowledge on basketball. I don't remember Greece's odd but it was huge. We watched the game and had such a great moment because the game was fun and we got big money !

[@orlandogloom5409]

Haha multi-win, nice, been there a couple of times myself, wish it wasn't literal and I had felt this combo more than just 2 times xD You bet on football/soccer teams too? :P I'm in need of some inspiration regarding that, re-started that recently and I think I'll just pick certain teams to support/bet on, until they all make me feel vindicated for choosing them. Two from each country or something like that. Good thing I won't be spending much on this, I'm mostly trying to predict which matches will have many goals and combine 2 of them with some regular predictions of interesting matches' results. It almost works but it doesn't so far xD Still kinda fun tho, especially if I'll be a bit luckier eventually. Slim chances tho, also because I usually don't bother betting (with enough attention), it became a habit not to, over the last decade.

[@akalyptos1313]

Nice content guys. Very well informed about the Greek players, as well. I really enjoyed you discuss and comment.

[@peterj4079]

LOVE FROM CYPRUS!!!!! GREAT TO HEAR YOU GIVING DESERVING FLOWERS TO GREECE!!! AMAZING TO HEAR YOU KNOW EVEN THE ROLE PLAYERS.......Funeral in the final and a cunning Spain got a gift from us.

[@asicdathens]

It was Friday and we were watching the game at work (instead of working).Another trivia. During the final of Eurobasket 1987 when Greece won USSR, we had 2-3 channels in Greece. Not only almost the entire country was watching the game but on the other channel they had news broadcast during that time. From the entire TV station only the newsreader wasn't watching the game and even the cameraman left the studio and was outside watching the game

[@NASASKA88]

As a Greek myself i am amazed of how good you know Greek Basketball and even in which Teams our players was, back at the time. Greece has had great basketball ever since 1987 when achieved the first European Trophy . Its not only Giannis that of course makes us all proud. Thanks for the video guys is much much much appreciated. Love from Greece.

[@liosalfa308]

[@yasheeran5496]

First of all i would like to thank you for the great discussion you make about this game! I want to mention that Michalis Kakiouzis was a very great player, he plays for AEK Athens, Siena, Barcelona, and Efes Pilsen among other good teams. Also, in his last season as a pro player played in the Greek Cup Final with a team called Faros Keratsiniou (from the second division - A2) against Panathinaikos but he didn't score (was too old for this sh.t haha)!

[@gimtal3547]

Greetings from Greece. Thank you for covering this epic game. I think this victory tops even the EuroBasket final vs France, based on the opposite team being USA. And the player sounds like - Shortsianitis

[@Trapligo]

As a Greek guy i have to say that team we had in 2006 was the best Greek team of all time we had

[@mike121068]

thank you guys from greece

[@user-iw1lj5ju4y]

Great video! Only thing you missed Diamantidis huge chase down block on Cp3 that arguably changed the momentum of the game!

[@sipelpoiss]

9:25 The ball LeBron threw from the backcourt actually went in - that's what the commentator was laughing about. Great match! I remember this one very well, and how extatic I was that the US had been defeated - for the third tournament in a row.

[@infamousJohn_thedoc]

you are all very young and it is great that you go back in time to explore other eras. The best national greece game is the 1987 eurobasket final against USSR. That changed the game in Greece radically. The name to remember is Nick Galis.

[@SP-nx8qx]

Dude I literally couldn't sleep for 2 nights after this game. I was in Melbourne, Australia at the time and the Greek community there booked this giant football field and set up a massive screen to watch the Final, thousands of Greeks came, and that was in friggin Australia. But still, all that pales compared to the 1987 Eurobasket against the Soviet Union. Back then people would walk from kilometres away holding Greek flags just to gather in the city centre to celebrate. And even that pales compared to the Euro Championship of 2004, but that's a different sport LOL

[@panit0]

Thank you guys for your content. Any true basketball fan appreciates you.

[@Apolloa]

It was an amazing game and tournament for us… Epic times for basketball national team with special players 🇬🇷

[@danteessa3062]

great stuff, great job

[@redhippog7]

The beggining of a beautiful friendship between coach K and coach Yannakis. Both Personally and and professionally as the Greek coach was invited and spoke in some of coach K's seminars, who fully understoud at the time that his team's defeat wasnt a fluke or just a lucky/unlucky night. He did the smart thing and tried to learn from the mistakes, taking any conclusion from that loss as the basis on which he built the undefeated run since then. Coach Yannakis has spoken in some interviews about the tactical approach on that game, it wasnt something fancy or complicated, just simple and basic things he instructed the greek players, in order to take away or reduce some of the many strengths that team USA had, like open court plays. (Many attacks close to the basket, inside game, trying to control rebounding with many bodies in the paint so the dont exploit their physical advantage on open runs,etc). 1987s final against Soviet Union for me is the n1 game in the greek national team history, maybe because i was a kid back then, maybe because it was a legendary game, maybe both :)!! And i could easily fit in the top 3 more games from that era, like the ones against Yugoslavia for example.

[@vornamenachname1022]

Great video guys!!

[@kmoustakas]

1987 was the best moment of Hellenic basketball. With a team of unknowns (to the world) we beat everyone. It was the begining of the golden years

[@vermilionaenemo]

Putting Sofo [Schortsianitis] in the court was the decisive turning point of the game imho; I clearly remember myself and the other 10 friends of mine watching the game at a downtown Athens cafe, screaming ''coach, get Sofo in the court'' - knowing that he could easily crush the American front line [note: in Euroleague & greek league games back then, Sofo was ALWAYS double- and triple-teamed, there was no other way for him to be contained!] ; we correctly assumed that the Americans would have been very proud to play anything but one-on-one defense on Sofo (coach Giannakis thought the same, obviously) . In hindsight, taking into consideration the fact that it took the US 13 whole years to lose a single game after that semifinal makes me even prouder and happier for that greek national team :)

[@orlandogloom5409]

Nice comment, Sofoklis always seemed like such a likeable guy/player indeed. So far, I beg to differ about the antetokounmpos tbh, but that's off topic here anyway, just had to make the comparison in my head and I couldn't help but type it as well xD

[@AXZ1974]

Thank you guys, you are really doing a great job and your knowledge of basketball facts is exceptional. I'm especially impressed by your knowledge of Greek basketball. I guess you're not calling yourselves BasketNews for nothing. Regarding this game and failing in the final, I would say it was a combination of the team being very very tired and also the Spanish coaching staff having identified correctly Greece's attacking plays. They were very good on defense, if memory serves me correctly. As for the best international Greek games, first has to be 1987 against USSR, as it was not only the first Greek international basketball success, but first Greek international team sport success in general. After that, I would put this game, and then a choice between the France game that you mentioned (Eurobasket 2005), or the one against Slovenia (Eurobasket 2007).

[@apmoy70]

It's Skhortsianitis guys, if you can pronounce s+kh (kh is like the h in house). Great video!

[@you_dont_ha]

We used to pronounce it wrong for 10+ yrs, so we feel the struggle

[@comervsvandals2692]

Thanks for this peaceee

[@aritzneo]

The other semifinal, Spain vs Argentina, was also a hell of a game, decided by a single point margin. What a tournament!

[@KonstantinosKarakasidis]

Those three games that you mention are certainly the most memorable of our national team. But also memorable where the games where we made huge comebacks as it was the case against Slovenia in EuroBasket or Spanoulis' buzzer beater against Croatia or even the crazy last seconds in the game against Australia of the same tournament. We need to mention that we also lost Zissis in that tournament due to Varejao who send him directly to hospital which was a bit of a shock for us. Also at the time of that match Greece and USA had the best defense in the tournament and the most steals. Greece also played an amazing game against China where our aggressive defense was even cheered by the Japanese crowd. Probably the best defense game from a team I've ever seen. At the time of the match Spanoulis had already signed with the Houston Rockets and he was about to get to the NBA that year. For me a key turning point was Pau's injury before the final as it gave an extra motive to the Spaniards and it was the first time that Greece was seen as a favorite and not an underdog (being considered the underdogs was more suitable for that team's mentality in general) and probably made the players feel a bit more relaxed. It was as if they gave all their everything in that one game against the USA and had no more power left for the final. Also Spain beat the s*** out of us cuz even in halftime every shot was going in from their side and had already built a huge point difference. But all-in-all we're very proud of this team as it gave us a lot of memorable moments of pure joy and happiness and was full of players that had high basketball IQ. You guys do an amazing job and I wish you keep up doing so.

[@nberedim]

From modern games most memorable along this one are Hellas vs France (Eurobasket 2005 semifinal) and Hellas vs Slovenia (Eurobasket 2007 quarterfinal) - Two epic comeback stories. From older games the 1987 final and the 1989 semifinal against the USSR, and also the 1987 semifinal against Yugoslavia.

[@YakosIoakim]

As for US, that was a great shock that changed a lot in the recruiting system and their approach, with coach k and Jerry collangelo taking it much more seriously after. Being part of the national team is a great honour and medals are part of a player’s legacy so, we can rule out that they snubbed the g. As for the Greeks it was a great team and a fantastic result. Diamantides, Papaloukas, and Spanoulis was a stellar coexistence. Losing in the final I think it was a result of enthusiasm and lack of focus after the semi. Spain was huge also, but without peak Pau, it was more than doable. And, it is shortsianitis❤

[@orlandogloom5409]

🧡 Wait tho, this guy has never been short Maybe Scorch would suit him more, dunno if he's regarded as that hot xD S-hort, maybe, would be the way to type this, because of the actual pause required before the χ. Weird name regardless tho, almost reminds me of how hard Schwarzenegger is supposed to be if you have never seen an Austrian name. Many countries ' names make you wish you had a manual for each language's pronunciations and letters with accents; polish comes to (my) mind first.

[@quelquel5079]

Big kudos for picking this game. I watched all of them, I believed we could win and I feared so much for the final :( In the final the team had already gave the big battle and they were running in fumes, the Spanish were in the clouds that they were getting Greece and not USA and they run and gun and won the game fair. Pretty good stuff from the analysis. You should have mentioned the importance of the pick and roll that at that point the US players were extremely confused to defend when they didn't know the players and the switch's were happening. Another factor is the killing defence on their guards and especially at cp3 (kill bill on the making destroyed him) For the quotes between Spanoulis and McGrady were like you said but Spanoulis was our EU prince and got a lot of disrespect as they treat him like a role-player rookie in Houston both couch and McGrady. I think at the end the NBA (lost a player that would bring all of this clatch moments) and Houston (a possible player that could bring you to finals) lost and in EU we had Spanoulis becoming kill bill, mvp and champion. At this point in the NBA there is a lot of arrogance about NBA players and their physical superiority but no mention about their luck of basket IQ and knowledge of fundamentals. In addition a lot of disrespect to rookies especially from EU that they didn't had a University league/exposure. Now in 2023 is a totally different story thanks to Giannis, Luka, Embiid and so many others. You could argue that the feature of the NBA is EU basketball players. 1) vs the USA win (you showed) 2) vs with France with buzzer and all (and I am half French haha) 3) vs USSR. (Rank 3 because I didn't watch it live, too young)

[@orlandogloom5409]

Leaving interesting comments, half Greek half french...?! That's a hell of a combo, nice :p I found this video by accident, on my phone's browser where I hadn't logged in till now, but it seems this channel attracts healthy minded people. I'm a football guy but I'll keep an eye out for more videos -and comments- like these.

[@Dataacer]

I'm Greek and I can say this game was uplifting, but nothing compares to the European final '87 Greece vs Soviet Union. That was the stuff of legend! That was the greatest upset in global basketball. The single moment that introduced Greece to European basketball stage, to remain there for ever. That was the single moment that Greeks believed that they can win against anybody, in any sports. A legacy that is still there. In Greece we love Giannis Antetokounmpo. Nikos Galis though is, was and maybe remain for ever the Greek basketball God!

[@chrisk9194]

Thanks for uploading this game,as a Greek all i can say it's one of the greatest moments on Greek basketball history. By the way the nme is shortsianitis. Great job an commentary 😊

[@stavros.fourfourianakis]

In my opinion the 3 most important Greece wins were: 1. 1987 win vs USSR, Eurobasket final. It is my No 1, because this is the tournament that everything started. 2. 2006 win vs USA, world cup semi-final 3. 1989 win vs USSR, Eurobasket Semifinal Many younger would replace the no 3 with 2005 win vs France at semis or the win vs Nowitzki's Germany at the final, but that 1989 win came outside Greece and vs a USSR team that was Olympic Gold Medalist the previous year and with Samponis participating on this game (vs no 1).

[@deezacharo]

Yes !!!!!!this was the greatest win in international basketball

[@aaaaaaaaaa943]

Hello from Greece, guys! Very good job. So, a few comments for your video: Nikos Zisis' eye injury wasn't life threatening but it could cause permanent damage to the eye and this is why he didn't play the rest of the tournament. As a Greek, I know we sometimes get to become a little dramatic about our teams successes, injuries etc. This is definitely the biggest win in greek sports history. The best team any of our national teams ever faced, the biggest upset and also in a very fair and square way. However the EuroBasket 1987 final was the most impactful win, as it pretty much reorientated a complete football-centered society towards also loving a little bit basketball. Again, very enjoyable video.

[@orlandogloom5409]

^underrated comment imo, most ppl enjoy their biased approaches and if one gets when the exaggerations and stupid stuff start it's always a good sign, maturity wise. Since I don't really follow basketball, was our team completely immature like I deduced recently after reading some official statements certain members made, on top of articles about players leaving etc, and seeing Thanasis make idiotic faces? xD Lithuania said so, so I guess I was right... No surprise tho if that's the case, I'm in touch with how ppl roll, in sports or outside, and in this country or elsewhere.

[@theo-paintingminiatures3541]

10:03 Fotsis played in Memphis in 2001-02 and Spanoulis had signed for 2006-07 season with Houston Rockets....i think we celebrated too much with the great victory over US and not take care business with Spain (without Pau Gasol) in the Finals but that's ok. AMAZING GAME απο τους Έλληνες!

[@antoniosvidakis]

I left work and went home to watch this. A beautiful sunny day in Greece, It's like it was yesterday.

[@commantermormont1657]

I don't if it is worthy to watch all the games from start to end, but it is definately worth watching the last 5-10 mins of Greece vs France 2005 and Greece vs Slovenia 2007. Unbelievable endings.

[@DimShamrock]

I don't know about you folks, but any win of a European national team against Team USA, I celebrate it. It's a reminder that not only has the gap narrowed, but they need to change their attitude towards International Basketball. And of course, παμε ρε Ελλαδαρα!!!

[@A1._.-_-]

Gap narrowed? How do you explain the last four gold medals in a row in the Olympics then? 😂😂😂😂😂

[@DimShamrock]

@@A1._.-_- How do you explain the fact that for the past few years your MVP's European?

[@A1._.-_-]

@@DimShamrock you're talking about 3 guys outside of the United States that are certified buckets winning a MVP award in the NBA that's great cute. You clearly need to work on your English more because what I'm saying to you is where the Olympics actually matters to us we rarely disappoint. 😂😂😂😂

[@DimShamrock]

@@A1._.-_- And what I am saying to you, that while you have more top talents, Europeans have the best of the bunch. Good try troll. Your days on top are numbered though.

[@A1._.-_-]

@@DimShamrock your English is still extremely low tier. Look up the word contradiction and study that for a month then come back to this conversation 😂😂😂😂

[@divinitygaming8673]

You guys should do the game Greece vs Slovenia in the '07 Eurobasket. Legendary Papaloukas game.

[@PtrBkls]

Thank you guys for honouring the great successions of our greek teams, national or clubs. It is fair though, because of a great generation of an excellent greek core and so great historical wins in main events like this with hustles and last minute turnarounds. As a greek we might say i am not objective, but with you sitting down, watching all these games and discussing them, you make it legit gentlemen..it has been a wonderful era. Thanks again! Ps1: skortsianitis is closer pronunciation, you need to say the letter h like when we say *Hi!*. So the best is shortsianitis. Ps2: you didn't mention Demos Dikoudis as another clever, hustle role player in the greek national team Ps3: fun fact, this greek "family" the days before the game sat all together in their hotel and watched the new, for that period, movie "300" to lift up their spirits even higher!

[@remonkewl6598]

About Spanoulis, what he said was that in Europe he played like Tmac, with the ball in his hands, as the primary handler, and it was a response to coach Van Gundy trying to turn him into a spot up shooter, which he isn't, as you guys said already.

[@manolisioannidis5037]

hey guys from Greece,i congratulate you for your show,i`ve watched almost every episode. I wanna inform you that this was the biggest win Greek national team ever made,even though we`ve beat soviet union twice(`87-`89),wet easy the final on 2005 with this team we had and of course the semifinal with France. you have to know that Greek basketball can beat any team in the world and can loose for any time as well,in fact once Nigeria beat us and kicked us out from the world cup. I wish you continue making such a good basketball show

[@iraklhs100]

12:26 on a Greek player autobiography, you can find the story about how after the game and the next morning sofo was furiously trying to find varejao who was nowhere to be found.

[@agonastiskritis7418]

The narrative in Greece was that the effort to win Team USA was so great that after winning players were emotionally and mentally empty and in no condition to give another match against a strong opponent. If you watch the final against Spain and all the rest matches of Greece in the tournament it is evident that it looks like a very different team. Keep in mind that during this period it was extremely rare for Team USA to lose. His name was Schortsianitis. A great player and a great guy but mentally he was not ready for all the pressure of professional basketball. Not his mistake though..

[@MultiDemis]

It's funny how Lithuanian journalists have such knowledge and respect Greek basketball and Greek players a lot more than our ignorant Greek reporters/journalists and the majority of Greek fan base. Much respect for Lithuanians,been in f4 in kaunas and you can easily tell the big gap between us, from Lithuanian behavior to organization. Greetings and much love to Lithuania

[@DKDove]

18:03 Shane Battier was like Nicola Batum in this game, so he was like more of a center.

[@digenesakritas8234]

Greece had the typical breakdown of discipline after a big win. They were partying all night until the game with Spain. The same with Italy, after a big win these guys are hitting the bordello or the bouzoukia until 7am. Living for the moment 🏀🏀🏀🍸🍸🍸

[@dirtyharry1881]

Doubt this is true, but it was certainly very funny

[@orlandogloom5409]

🤭 Tbh I don't think it'd surprise me if it were true Even tho this team consisted of more mature ppl compared to the usual sight we get to watch today (in Greek national teams or anything else).

[@sissydourdoureka5375]

Great game! I still remember how proud we felt!❤

[@user-jz8dt1jn4l]

Man as a Maccabi fan seeing Sofo like that turns back the clock. Also I got a picture with him when I was like 6 and let me tell you that man was fucking huge

[@leonfth]

Remember when he stormed the stands and grabbed a guy who was calling him names?

[@Jay_and_Zed]

The Lions of Voltron are in this team, and Voltron became Antetokounmpo, The current team was inspired and keept the legacy of the 80's team with Galis Gannakis ect. Hope the next few years to have another team to keep this up (like every 25 years)

[@thomaskappa4814]

16:22 was a clutch moment, worth mentioning .. DD against lebron, with the clock running down .. hesitation moves, one on one, and a 3 pointer on lebron's (good) defense .. I was watching it, remember thinking the tables have turned for good ..

[@Slava_Russia-Wagner]

Oh, it's Scortsianitis by the way. And top three games: 1. Soviet Union - Greece 101-103 2. Greece - Slovenia 63-62 3. France - Greece 66-67 🇬🇷🇬🇷🥳🥳

[@gvandoul]

Here is a top 3 of Greek Basketball National Team wins/games: 1. Greeece vs Soviet Union - 1987 - Eurobasket Final 2. USA vs Greece - 2006 - World Championships Semifinal 3. Greece vs France - 2005 - Eurobasket Semifinal Honorable mentions Slovenia vs Greece - 2007 - Eurobasket Quarterfinal Greece vs Yugoslavia - 1987 - Eurobasket Semifinal

[@mr.d8383]

From the younger generations probably this is their favorite win,but rhe older ones,we just can't forget what happened when we won our fisrt Eurobasket in 1987 wiining Russia in the final with score 103-101. The whole country was on fire!!!Every one was out in the streets celebrating,even old women who didn't know what basketball is until that day!😅