By Michalis Gioulenoglou/ info@eurohoops.net
Limassol, Greece – In the aftermath of the game between Greece and Georgia, Vassilis Spanoulis was asked to compare Greek Hall-of-Fame Nikos Galis and Giannis Antetokounmpo, not on the court but as cultural personalities in Greece.
Spanoulis didn’t hesitate to explain that while Giannis is one of a kind, there’s simply no modern Greek basketball without Galis and his generation.
As Spanoulis said: “I cannot compare, everybody in Greece started playing basketball because of Galis and all this great generation. Galis, Giannakis, Fasoulas, Fanis Christodoulou, and all the other guys. And now there’s a different generation. After them, we got to our generation, we won three medals in five years, and now we are trying to build a new generation”.
As a player, together with current Greek national team GM Nikos Zisis and names like Dimitris Diamantidis, Thodoris Papaloukas, and more, Spanoulis was part of the team under coach Panagiotis Giannakis, which won Eurobasket gold in 2005, bronze in 2009, and silver in the FIBA World Cup 2006.
So as Spanoulis explained: “Every generation is different. I am blessed that we have Giannis here because he always has the right mindset, he is very humble, he plays for his country, he loves his teammates, he is here, and he is trying with all the other guys to win. And we are trying to find the right chemistry”.