EuroBasket 2025: After the nightmare, don’t get lost – Everything for the bronze at 17:00,
Source: ProtoThema English
The dream of Greece returning to a EuroBasket final after 20 years and chasing its third gold medal in the tournament turned into a nightmare, as Turkey thoroughly dominated Friday’s semifinal. However, that poor performance cannot erase the team’s overall journey and the image it showed in Cyprus and Latvia.
Before tip-off, the Greece–Turkey clash looked to neutrals like the ultimate derby, but it took only a few minutes to realize it wasn’t our night. We trailed 0–7 right away, and although the “second unit” cut the deficit to 20–26 early in the second quarter, hope was short-lived.
It was the 12th minute of the game, the only moment when the Turks made some mistakes. But in the next eight minutes, Alperen Sengun (quiet until then) entered the equation along with the unstoppable Ercan Osmani (28 points for the usual role player of Efes and Turkey), leading a 23–11 run that gave Turkey a 49–31 halftime lead.
In the first 20 minutes we committed 12 turnovers (!), while Ergin Ataman pulled off a masterstroke, becoming the first coach of the tournament to neutralize Giannis Antetokounmpo without having to “lock him in the locker room.” The final 94–68 scoreline shows just how fair Turkey’s win was in a game where we never really showed up.

Neither defense nor offense
The 22 turnovers that crippled our offensive output, our defense that never functioned, and our inability to match Turkey’s energy all led to the blowout. And to make matters worse, instead of being punished by Sengun and Osman as feared, we fell victim to Osmani (who started 4/4 from three and finished with 6/8 for 28 points), who delivered the best performance of his career.
At the same time, for the first time in this tournament, we couldn’t pull a hidden ace from our sleeve in a crucial game. In the opener vs. Italy it was Dinos Mitoglou, against Spain in the “group final” it was Tyler Dorsey, in the quarterfinal vs. Lithuania it was Vassilis Toliopoulos. On Friday night, though, nobody put on the superhero cape to give the team the spark it needed. Not even Giannis…
The biggest challenge
Greece missed the chance against Turkey to secure a place in the final and on the podium, but today (14/9, 17:00) there’s a second chance to return home with a medal. Even if it’s bronze. Because if, before the tournament began, someone asked us if we’d settle for third place, most would say “yes.”
If the semifinal against Ataman’s team was a big but failed bet, now Vassilis Spanoulis and his players face an even greater challenge:
To pick up the pieces, set aside the disappointment of the bad performance and the heavy loss, and bring out their best selves again against Finland. Not because the last impression is what stays, but because this team truly deserves to close a (long) cycle with a success we’ve been waiting far too many years to celebrate.

Sixteen years of “curse”
The date was August 6, 2024, when Greece lost 76–63 to Germany in the Olympic quarterfinal and said goodbye to Paris. Despite our impressive start that gave us a +12 lead and Giannis Antetokounmpo’s emotional 22 points, it wasn’t enough to break into the medal zone, which has remained a “forbidden land” for 16 years. Years full of coaching changes, missed opportunities, and endless analyses about why we couldn’t succeed.
Now comes the ultimate contrast: from “when will we celebrate again?” to the bitterness of losing a EuroBasket semifinal. That alone shows there has been progress, steps forward—but not enough yet to take us back to the top.
Spanoulis’ law
This isn’t Spanoulis’ first major tournament as head coach. The 2024 Paris Olympics came first, when the rookie Thessalian coach firmly returned to the international stage.
“Whoever wants to be in the National Team will be… Whoever doesn’t want to, won’t—because representing Greece is an honor, and I know this firsthand. I served and experienced great successes and failures. I know the way. The only way for basketball to rise is unity. Everyone must put the National Team first,” he had said in June 2024 before the Olympic Qualifiers. And with meaning added: “We play for our legacy, for our flag, for our country.
We all have to be together in success and failure. If we don’t succeed one year, we’ll succeed the next. That’s the only certainty. The National Team is above all. Those who come must sacrifice, as we once broke our bodies to pass on our love to the next generations.”
Why remember this now? Because in his second major tournament as national coach, Spanoulis has truly stamped his mark on the team—much more than last summer in Paris. And these assessments don’t change after the nightmare semifinal against Turkey.
He knows that big defeats hurt, they “stink like manure,” as has been said—but they also show the way to success.
From Limassol to the Final Four in Riga, he had 12 soldiers ready to follow his plan, essentially having the final roster in mind from the start. Some doubted his choices, but the result—our place in the top four—proved him right. He took the players who could best serve his basketball and got Greece among Europe’s elite.
Next to Giannis Antetokounmpo stand two veterans, Kostas Papanikolaou and Kostas Sloukas, who have been with the National Team for 20 years. When the men’s team last won a medal (EuroBasket 2009, bronze), they were celebrating gold with the U20s.
Both long-serving warriors, once teammates of Spanoulis, now embody self-sacrifice and set the example. Sloukas reminds everyone why he’s long been among Europe’s best playmakers, while Papanikolaou plays like a terminator, shutting down every opponent assigned to him. And when the two 35-year-olds behave this way in what seems to be their “Last Dance,” no younger teammate can fail to follow.
Especially since even Giannis grew up idolizing Spanoulis and the respect toward him is immense—not just as a legendary player but now as a coach building his own legacy. After two years at Peristeri (2022–2024), his coaching baptism, he went to Monaco after Paris, leading them to their first EuroLeague final (Abu Dhabi 2025).
Even with all his experience as a player, this EuroLeague journey helped him mature quickly as a coach. Even the semifinal defeat to Turkey—his first duel with Ataman at national level—was a harsh but valuable lesson, especially in terms of mental preparation and readiness.

The most focused Giannis
In a team sport like basketball, rarely does one player win anything alone—not even a single game, let alone a medal. But a superstar like Giannis Antetokounmpo makes the difference, especially when he shows up like he has in this tournament.
His love for the National Team has always been evident, and for years he’s wanted nothing more than to celebrate success with Greece. Having already won an NBA championship and MVP titles, the only thing missing is a medal with the National Team. Unlike in past tournaments, insiders talk about his incredible focus since day one: “I’m here to win a medal, and I’ll fight until the end with all I’ve got,” he said, recalling the Giannis of the 2021 NBA Finals when he led the Bucks to their first title in 50 years.
Up to now, he’s the only player who hasn’t spoken to the media after games, though he remains his approachable, humorous self within the team. That’s how his coach treats him too. In a friendly vs. Latvia he scored 20 points in one quarter, and when Spanoulis rested him, he pulled him aside and coached him for several minutes—something Giannis loves: being fed details on how to improve.
It didn’t work out on Friday. Even he is allowed a bad night. Did it come at the worst moment? Certainly. But now, before heading home, we’re confident that against Lauri Markkanen’s Finland he’ll find a way to add the one thing missing from his collection…
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The original article: ProtoThema English .
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