Greece’s path to the gold medal at the 2019 FIBA World Cup remains intact after the boys beat New Zealand 103-97 in their final group F match.
The Greek National Basketball team advance to the second round, Group K which is expected to feature Brazil, the United States and the Czech Republic.
Group K games will commence on Saturday 7th September.
Summary:
1st Quarter: Greece 28 – New Zealand 19
2nd Quarter: Greece 23 – New Zealand 25
3rd Quarter: Greece 20 – New Zealand 22
4th Quarter: Greece 32 – New Zealand 31
TOTAL: Greece 103 – New Zealand 97
Following the crucial victory against New Zealand at the 2019 FIBA World Cup, stated that "It was a difficult game for us, because we lost to Brazil in the last match. We had to win tonight, and we were playing against a very dangerous team. New Zealand had some open court and a lot of dangerous threes. If you don’t play with concentration for 40 minutes they can hurt any team, not just us. I think that we were very good in defence today, we decided to use a switching approach. It worked a lot. We controlled the rebounds and had a very good night offensively. Our 1-on-1 situations and pick-and-rolls worked well, this is why it’s a high score.”
“This is a successful result for us, we have qualified for the next round,” continued the Greek coach. “We have to be 100% ready for both the USA and the Czech Republic in order to secure our qualification to the knockouts. The Czechs are a very serious team, they showed that against the Americans. It is a bit surprising that the Czech Republic beat an experienced Turkish team. The US still have a great roster even without some star players, and their coaches are more than great. We must be fully ready to play against them,” he continued.
Greece will play the United States on September 7 at 15:30 (*Greek time) and the Czech Republic on September 9 at 11:30 (*Greek time).
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*Image: FIBA Basketball
Greek National Basketball team ready for glory at FIBA Basketball World Cup
