Greece made it to the quarterfinals of the 2024 Paris Olympics thanks in large part to the consistent play of Giannis Antetokounmpo. However, their run in the knockout stages did not last very long. Greece ran into the buzzsaw that is the reigning 2023 FIBA World Cup champion Germany, and on Tuesday, they fell in the top eight after suffering a 76-63 loss — with Orlando Magic wing Franz Wagner leading all German scorers with 18.
The story of the 2024 Paris Olympics for Greece has been the lack of consistent help around Antetokounmpo. Germany sensed that Greece relied on the Milwaukee Bucks star far too much to generate offense. In fact, Wagner revealed just how much preparation went behind Germany's quest to prevent Antetokounmpo from dominating as much as he could.
“Giannis [Antetokounmpo] was more than half of the scouting report. It takes all five on the court to stop him,” Wagner told reporters following the game, per Ben Golliver of the Washington Post.
Indeed, there might not be a more difficult player to stop from getting to the hoop than Giannis Antetokounmpo. He is such a powerful runner and ball-handler, and his long strides make keeping up with him in solo coverage impossible. The Toronto Raptors, back in 2019, even had to popularize a strategy called “building a wall”, which means throwing multiple defenders at him and forcing his teammates to make plays.
In the end, Greece did not have enough firepower to capitalize on the defensive attention Germany gave Antetokounmpo. Antetokounmpo still had a solid game, scoring 22 points on 9-14 shooting from the field, but it wasn't enough to lead his team to victory lane.
Franz Wagner, Germany overcome early-game malaise to send Giannis Antetokounmpo, Greece home
Things were looking up for Greece in the first quarter; they took a 21-11 lead, with Giannis Antetokounmpo responsible (scoring or assisting) for 10 of those points. Germany, however, had the luxury of having the deeper and more composed team, as they came back and pulled away from Greece to end the game.
In the fourth quarter, Greece was still putting up a spirited fight, but their execution woes ended up haunting them. They went 2-7 prior to garbage time (5-11 overall) in the final frame, and they were also unable to take care of the basketball, coughing up possession five times at the most crucial time. Credit must go to Germany's defense for holding the fort.
Germany will now be waiting in the semifinals for the winner of what should be an exciting matchup between France and Canada.
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