ATHENS (Greece) - Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kostas Sloukas and nine members of Greece's World Cup squad are in the 18-strong group getting ready for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Piraeus.
Veteran point guard Nick Calathes is also included by coach Vasilis Spanoulis, who will try to get the Greek team back to the Olympics for the first time since he was in the team in 2008 in Beijing.
Greece earned their place in China by claiming one of three spots in the 12-team OQT they hosted 16 years ago, but the country came up short at OQTs in 2012, 2016 and 2021.
Giannis Antetokounmpo played in Turin in 2016 when Greece reached the Semi-Finals, while Sloukas and five others in this squad were in the team that reached the Final of the OQT played three years ago in Victoria, Canada, but fell to the Czech Republic.
Antetokounmpo, Sloukas and Calathes were leaders in Greece's EuroBasket 2022 squad that finished fifth. The former averaged 25.1 points and 7.6 rebounds - both team highs - while Sloukas was third on the team in scoring (10.0 points per game) and Calathes was first in assists (5.0 per game).
Giannoulis Larentzakis has become an indispensable member of the team the past several years, while Dino Mitoglou will give a significant boost to Greece's front line. Mitoglou was poised to be a vital contributor last summer and was in the World Cup squad but got hurt shortly before the start of the tournament and did not play.
Another positive for Greece last summer was Thomas Walkup, the point guard of Olympiacos.
Walkup was second on the team in scoring at 12.8 points per game and first in assists at 7.2 assists per game.
The majority of the players in the team have tasted success late in the season with Panathinaikos and Olympiacos, the two sides that have had strong campaigns in Europe and the domestic league. The two are squaring off in the Greek League Finals.
Greece's 18-man squad for FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament Piraeus
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Giannis Antetokounmpo | Kostas Antetokounmpo | Neoklis Avdalas | Nick Calathes |
Vasilis Charalampopoulos | Nikos Chougkaz | Panagiotis Kalaitzakis | Ioannis Kouzeloglou |
Giannoulis Larentzakis | Michalis Lountzis | Dino Mitoglou | Dimitris Moraitis |
Georgios Papagiannis | Ioannis Papapetrou | Kostas Papanikolaou | Kostas Sloukas |
Vasilis Toliopoulos | Thomas Walkup |
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Greece will have preparation games by hosting Poland, Montenegro and Bahamas in friendlies at the Peace & Friendship Stadium (SEF), where the OQT from July 2 to July 7.
Greece will take on Poland on June 21 and then square off against Montenegro on June 25 before finishing up with the Bahamas on June 27.
At the OQT, which runs from July 2 to July 7, Greece are in Group B and take on the Dominican Republic (July 3) and Egypt (July 4). The top two sides advance to the Semi-Finals to take on the teams that come out of Group A, which has Slovenia, New Zealand and Croatia.
FIBA