By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Initially slated to finally return to action, Konstantinos Mitoglou was instead sidelined due to a fracture in the fifth digit of his left hand.
Mitoglou, 27, was ruled out for the 2023 FIBA World Cup, the Hellenic Basketball Federation announced Friday, one day before tipping off action in the Mall of Asia Arena versus Jordan Saturday.
“We did not want to be the team paying for this,” head coach Dimitris Itoudis referred to asking for the limit of players on the final roster of national teams in major international tournaments to increase from 12 to 14 last summer. “I think my request was reasonable,” he added, “Following, numerous more federations agreed and made a similar request.”
The Greek forward/center was injured in practice. His stay in the Philippines was cut short as he will return to Greece to focus on recovering ahead of the 2023-24 season at the club level. He was recently cleared to resume his career since the suspension stemming from his involvement in a doping scandal was reduced.
Previously registering the 12 players named to the final roster of the World Cup, Greece can not call up a replacement. “During practice yesterday, we finalized the registration of the 12 players,” confirmed Itoudis.
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The remaining listed players are Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Lefteris Bochoridis, Manolis Hatzidakis, Giannoulis Larentzakis, Michalis Lountzis, Dimitris Moraitis, Giorgos Papagiannis, Kostas Papanikolaou, Ioannis Papapetrou, Nikos Rogkavopoulos, and Thomas Walkup.
Forced to deal with limited rotation in the paint, Greece will move on from the opener versus Jordan to face the USA on Monday and New Zealand on Wednesday. The top two seeds will be placed in Group J and battle for a berth in the Quarterfinals, but the bottom two will move to Group N and compete for a spot between 17th and 32nd on the final rankings of the World Cup.