Shooting guards

Greece's Euroleague representatives are already drifting away from the top eight spots of the table, that lead to the playoffs, after their home losses this week, as Panathinaikos went down to Armani Milano and Olympiakos to Zenit St Petersburg.

Ionikos Nikaias ended a 32-year wait for a top-flight victory in Greek basketball, beating PAOK no less on Saturday, in the third round of games of the Basket League, while Larissa scored its first ever win in the top tier defeating another Thessaloniki team, Aris on Sunday.

Panathinaikos blew a 13-point lead and a great chance for an away win at Villeurbanne on Thursday, but Olympiakos produced an emphatic home victory over Valencia on Friday. Both Greek teams are now on a 1-1 record in the Euroleague.

The Greens went down 79-78 at ASVEL due to a disastrous last quarter that undid all that the Greek champion had achieved in the first 30 minutes.

The start of the 2019-2020 Euroleague this week was far from impressive for the two Greek teams, but at least Panathinaikos did the job beating Red Star Belgrade at home while Olympiakos suffered at the hands of new boys ASVEL Villeurbanne in France.

The best "Eagles" player on Mundobasket posted the best championship photos with a comment on Twitter.
"Maybe it's my fault...." This is just the beginning...no excuses…, Bogdanovic wrote on Twitter.
Bogdanovic finished Mundobasket with an average of 22.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game, being the bright spot of Serbia, finishing the tournament fifth.

Giannis Antetokounmpo reacts after Greece's elimination on Monday from the FIBA Basketball World Cup. Greece beat the Czech Republic 84-77 but failed to win by the required 12 points to reach the quarters. [Ng Han Guan/AP Photo]

Greece exited the Basketball World Cup in China from the Round of 16, despite having been tipped for a medal, as its seven-point win (84-77) over the Czech Republic on Monday was not enough for the national team to make the quarterfinals.

Greece needs to beat the Czech Republic by over 11 points on Monday to have any hope to the knockout stage of the FIBA World Cup after going down 88-75 to the USA on Saturday.

The 93-71 victory of the Czechs over Brazil earlier in the day means that, unless the Brazilians upset the US, Greece can advance to the last eight with a 12-point margin at least on Monday.

The US men's basketball team figured that it would eventually cross paths with Giannis Antetokounmpo at this World Cup.
And the Americans were right.

Giannis Antetokounmpo soars for a dunk during Greece's victory over New Zealand Thursday in Nanjing, China. The national team had to work hard to beat the Tall Blacks, but did so with a 103-97 score, becoming the last team to make the 16-team field for the second round of the FIBA World Cup. Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks led Greece with 24 points and 10 rebounds.