EUROLEAGUE - Printezis reemerges

ISTANBUL (Euroleague/FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament) - The Greek national team has given international basketball some thrills the past several years with a European title in 2005 and a stunning upset of the United States in the Semi-Finals of the 2006 FIBA World Championship.

Don't be surprised if Greece make more headlines this summer when they travel to Venezuela for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in a bid to reach the London Games.

Georgios Printezis could become a key man in the national side again, too, if his heroics at the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four in Istanbul on Sunday are anything to go by.

The 27-year-old had 12 points, including a floater on the left baseline with 0.7 seconds remaining, to cap a remarkable comeback for Olympiacos and give them a 62-61 victory over CSKA Moscow in Sunday’s title game at the Sinan Erdem Arena – the venue of the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

The Russian giants had led by 19 late in the third quarter but Printezis and the Reds battled back for a famous victory.

A forward, Printezis exploded onto the international basketball scene at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Athens our years ago when he helped the Greeks claim one of the three places on offer for the Beijing Games.

He then travelled to China and helped his side reach the Quarter-Finals, where they lost in a thriller to Argentina.

Printezis followed that up with a terrific all-round display for the Greeks at EuroBasket 2009, helping them capture a bronze medal.

His career was on the rise but a difficult spell at Unicaja Malaga, where he went down with a shoulder injury, and a sub-par performance for the Greeks at the World Championship in Turkey, suggested he was on the decline.

After returning to Olympiacos during the 2010-11 season, Printezis did not play for Greeks at the EuroBasket in Lithuania last summer.

But he has returned to his top form under coach Dusan Ivkovic at Olympiacos and now has a signature moment with his game-winning shot that players can only dream about.

"This is a great success and a very big moment for us, for the club and for the fans," Printezis said.

"We are very happy to make them happy after so many years."

Panathinaikos have ruled Greece for a long time, winning numerous domestic league titles, cups and Euroleague crowns.

Only last season, Pana prevailed at the Euroleague Final Four in Barcelona.

But now Printezis and Olympiacos are on top again.

Ivkovic, in 1997, also led them to the Euroleague crown in Rome, too.

Printezis will now turn his attention back to the domestic scene and the play-off championship, but there seems little doubt that he is poised for a return to the national team under coach Ilias Zouros if he craves another opportunity to play at the Olympics.

Another who may have boosted his chances of making the Greece squad is Kostas Sloukas, the back-up point guard of Olympiacos who hit a big three-pointer in his limited time on the court against CSKA.

Sloukas, a member of last year's Greece squad, had four points, two assists, three rebounds and a steal in less than 13 minutes.

Vassilis Spanoulis didn't play at last year's EuroBasket due to injury for Greece but he will return for the OQT in Caracas.

After pouring in 15 points, the veteran guard was named Final Four MVP for the second time in his career.

Spanoulis also captured the honor in 2009 when he led Panathinaikos to glory in Berlin.

Greek fans will be positively giddy about the prospects of another of their youngsters.

Kostas Papanikolou is just 21 years of age yet had a game-high 18 points against CSKA.

The versatile forward was a prominent member of last year's national team in Lithuania and could be on the path to superstardom.

Dimitris Diamantidis of Panathinaikos was the Euroleague Final Four MVP one year ago but did not provide the heroics that everyone is accustomed to witnessing whenever he is on the floor.

Calls for him to return to the national team following his international retirement after the 2010 World Championship may grow quiet.

He failed to deliver in the final seconds of Panathinaikos’ Semi-Final defeat to CSKA, turning the ball over on his team’s last possession.

Panathinaikos lost to Barcelona, 74-69, in the third-place game on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Russia have certainly been in the international basketball spotlight the past several years with a EuroBasket 2007 gold-medal triumph, an appearance at the 2008 Olympics and a bronze at last year’s EuroBasket in Lithuania.

Andrei Kirilenko was poised to cap a magnificent season in his first year back at CSKA after being named Euroleague Player of the Year on Saturday.

However the veteran, who had 12 points in the title game, missed out on the most important honor of all and that was the honor of being a Euroleague champion.

He will be with Russia at the OQT, and so will Alexey Shved although the CSKA guard on Sunday wasn’t able to duplicate his jaw-dropping display in the Semi-Final win over Panathinaikos.

On Sunday, Shved played 17:42 and took just three shots, scoring three points.

Another talented Russian, Andrei Vorontsevich, may have left his national team coach David Blatt scratching his head and wondering what is going on since he made very little impact on the Final Four.

An important player the past two summers with Russia, Vorontsevich attempted just one shot on Sunday and played 11:27.

As for Lithuania, Olympiacos guard Martynas Gecevicius celebrated a Euroleague title but did nothing to boost his chances of playing in Caracas at the OQT because Ivkovic didn’t play him on Sunday.

FIBA