GRE/AUS – Yannakis dismisses concerns about Diamantidis

ATHENS (FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men) – How good are Greece heading into the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament?

Consider they didn’t have their superstar guard Dimitris Diamantidis in the line-up and still whipped Australia 89-69 on Tuesday in the Acropolis Tournament.

Greece coach Panagiotis Yannakis allayed concerns that Panathinaikos star Diamantidis, widely accepted as the best defensive player in Europe, might have some fitness issues with the qualifying tournament set to tip off next week.

“Diamantidis has no serious injury problem,” Yannakis said.

“We just thought it was better both for him and the team to rest him. He trains lightly now, but maybe tomorrow (Wednesday) he will be involved for some time in the game, and he will certainly be with us in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.”

Yannakis believes his team’s preparations are going well.

So far, they have won all four of their friendlies in the build-up to next week, when they will take on Brazil and Lebanon in Group A.

Three spots for the Beijing Games will be hotly contested by 12 teams, and hosts Greece are favourites to take one of them.

“Although we haven’t had too much time to prepare,” the coach said, “we could in fact play better.

“But the guys are trying hard, and we have periods when we show our fans that they can feel good about how their team plays and adjusts to the difficulties of a game.

“However, they must be patient, too. A game lasts 40 minutes, not 15, 25 or 35, and you have to constantly build on both offense and defense to come up with the win.”

Patience was needed against Australia, who led 40-36 at half-time.

“In the first half, we did not have the defensive pressure we want and we were slow offensively, but near the end of the half we managed to even the game,” Yannakis said.

“In the second half, when we played good pressure defense the way we usually do, we improved our speed on both ends and things became easier for us.

“We made some unforced turnovers but I believe we will be able to control them. Besides, this is what friendlies are all about. We have to be concentrated throughout the game in order to be effective.”

Australia coach Brian Goorjian will be relieved that his team has already secured a place at the Beijing Games as they were clearly second-best against the Greeks.

“I guess we have just learned what we have to do in order to be competitive,” he said.

“The first half reminded me of how we played against Croatia, but Greece’s defensive pressure and rotation and their ability to double-team wore us out physically.

“Greece shot the ball real well and gave our perimeter players constant pressure, so we managed to stay in the game for just one half.

FIBA