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July 2016
4 Paul Stoll (MEX), 8 Nick Calathes (GRE)
07/07/2016
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'Nick the Quick' ignites Greece

TURIN (2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament) - Giannis Antetokounmpo turned in another dominating performance for Greece on Wednesday in their 86-70 triumph over Mexico in the battle for first place in Group A at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Turin.

The 'Greek Freak' swatted shots, drilled three-pointers and also soared through the air for dunks. The NBA player has been amazing, yet Greece are far from a one-man team.

They have terrific bigs in Kostas Koufos and Giannis Bourousis and also an outstanding playmaker in Nick Calathes, someone that makes one sweet pass after another on offense but also picks the pockets of opposing point guards to trigger fastbreaks.

In their opening win over Iran, Calathes was sublime. He found Thanasis Antetokounmpo with an alley-oop pass that got the fans on their feet.

It was Calathes, in fact, who ignited Greece at the start of the third quarter of their defeat of Mexico by immediately drilling a go-ahead three-pointer. That shot put the team on its way to victory.

"At the beginning of the third quarter, the three-pointer by Calathes gave them a lot of confidence to play better in the game," Mexico coach Sergio Valdeolmillos conceded after.

Greece are now two victories away from winning the OQT and claiming a spot in the Olympics. They will take on Croatia in Friday's Semi-Finals and a win in that contest would see them go up against hosts Italy or face Mexico in Saturday's Final, a do-or-die battle for Rio.

Calathes spoke to FIBA.com.

FIBA.com: What are your thoughts on the win over Mexico, a game that was pretty tough in the early going?
Nick Calathes: I think we started out bad. We didn't start out with the right intensity that we needed but then in the second half, we got some stops and that allowed us to run and get some easy points.

FIBA.com: Mexico were up at half-time but then the third quarter arrived and Greece were a different side.
Nick Calathes: It started on the defensive end. We can get out and get some easy buckets and that's the best part about our game.

Nick Calathes (GRE) is one of Greece's stars in Turin

FIBA.com: Entering the Semi-Finals unbeaten, do you take anything from that?
Nick Calathes: We've got to get better. Friday against Croatia, it will be a tough game. We've got to learn from what we did and get better. It's an elimination game. You don't win, you go home.

FIBA.com: Are there lessons Greece have learned from four years ago, when you lost to Nigeria at the OQT in Caracas and didn't qualify for the London Olympics?
Nick Calathes: I hope so, but then again we've got a different team. We have seven new guys, so that's a new team, although we've got some veteran guys that know how to play that were with us then. Hopefully we can use that for Friday and hopefully again on Saturday.

FIBA