Giannis Antetokounmpo will be playing for Greece in Eurobasket, and it looks like the Milwaukee Bucks' star can play as much as he can, according to head coach Vassilis Spanoulis.
“Giannis can play as much as I want him to play, we are in the official games now and there’s no limitations anymore,” Spanoulis said.
Antetokounmpo made the 12-man roster that was announced a few days ago, and there's no doubt that he will be a key factor in how they perform in the tournament. Kostas Papanikolaou, who is the captain of the team, spoke highly about Antetokounmpo and what he can bring to the team.
“He is one of the top players in the world, he is amazing,” Papanikolaou said. “His presence and the way he is treating his teammates, how approachable he is, that’s making him a good leader. He is reaching out to everybody, he is helping everyone, and he makes sure everyone knows what he has to do. He is more vocal compared to his first years in the national team. That makes the team function better.”
“I agree with Kostas, he is more vocal this year,” Spanoulis said. “He is very humble for his status and the kind of player he is, and that extends off the court. He wants to win, he wants to get this team to another level. He listens, but he can also lead the team in his own way.”
Just like in the NBA, Antetokounmpo can be a mismatch problem for anybody, and things probably won't change in the EuroBasket.
Italian head coach Gianmarco Pozzecco already has a funny plan on how he plans to stop Antetokounmpo.
“A friend of mine is a sniper. We will put him in the top of the gym,” Pozzeccon said. “Probably we will do this in the first quarter. So he will not play second quarter, third quarter, and fourth quarter. Friend of mine is like really good sniper. This is the only option that we already got with staff. There is no other option. To stop him is not possible.”
It's probably going to take more than that to stop Antetokounmpo, but we'll have to wait and see.
