MANILA (Philippines) - Giannis Antetokounmpo could not be here because of his injury struggles, but his brother Thanasis is hard to miss at games in the Mall of Asia Arena. Loud and confident, he's a leader for this generation of Greece.

His bigger role was expected, especially with coach Dimitris Itoudis preaching a change of identity at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.

"We had to modify our style of play. It's not just that we're missing Giannis, we're also missing Kostas Sloukas, Nick Calathes, Tyler Dorsey, Leonidas Kaselakis... But what's important are the guys who are here. Your players' quality always shows you the way you should be playing, so now we're going to be focused on defense, where we'll be stronger, braver, more dominant," coach Itoudis explained.

If the team is switching its focus from an Antetokounmpo-centric offense, a good idea would be to make it Antetokounmpo-centric defense.

"ALL OF US ARE LEADERS. EACH OF US LEADS IN THEIR OWN WAY." - Thanasis Antetokounmpo

"It means a lot to me, it means I have to set the tone 100 percent for the team, try to do my best as always," Thanasis said about being the defensive anchor of this squad.

It was obvious since day one of the preparation camp, at least to those who were getting the news from inside of it. For a wider audience, Greece's defense became a thing in their friendly game in Ljubljana, where they upset Luka Doncic and the packed stands in Slovenia, celebrating a narrow win.

One that they carved out on the defensive end, with Thanasis celebrating each steal like he's playing Game 7 of the NBA Finals, and not just another tune-up game ahead of a major event..

"It's not about celebration, it's to remind everybody what's the most important thing. It's like you give props for them to do it again on defense. And again. And then again. It's not about one game, it's more about repetition, celebrate what you're doing good so you can do it again," the 31-year-old forward offered

His brother was the 2021 NBA champion and Finals MVP. He won back-to-back MVP of the season awards in 2019 and 2020. He was the top scorer of the FIBA EuroBasket 2022, and he was selected to the All-Star Five at that event.

"KOSTAS PAPANIKOLAOU AND MYSELF, WE HAVE TO SET THE TONE."- Thanasis Antetokounmpo

Nick Calathes is the all-time leader in assists in the EuroLeague. He won the EuroLeague in 2011, he won the EuroCup in 2013, when he was also the MVP, and he's got seven national championship titles in Greece and Spain.

Kostas Sloukas is a three-time EuroLeague winner, he's got seven domestic league trophies from Greece and Turkey, and a FIBA Intercontinental Cup from 2013. Add Tyler Dorsey's trophy cabinet from Israel and Greece, and you get a pantheon sized trophy cabinet between the four of them.

But mostly, you see all four painted as leaders, wherever they played.

So who's the new leader of this generation if Giannis, Sloukas, Calathes and Dorsey aren't here?

"All of us are leaders. Everybody leads in their own way. This is my second World Cup, plus three FIBA EuroBasket events, so Kostas Papanikolaou and myself, we have to set the tone. All of these guys are great professional players, they've been through a lot, they know what the deal is," Thanasis finished.

A big test is coming up against the United States on Monday.

A chance to once again celebrate all the good defensive moves, this time with the world's attention.

FIBA