GRE/CHN - Greece beat China To Third Place In Group B

BEIJING (Olympics) – When China play in front of their boisterous home crowd at the Wukesong Arena in Beijing, they’re usually going to be tough to beat.

The fervent atmosphere didn’t bother Greece on Monday, though, at least in the first half when the European giants stormed out to a 24-point lead en route to a 91-77 victory.

The Greeks tore apart the Chinese with Vasilis Spanoulis pouring in 13 of his 19 points before the break.

“I think that we controlled our game,” Greece coach Panagiotis Yannakis said to FIBA.com.

“We are trying to play with a clear mind. This will give us a chance to play better against better teams.

“But this crowd here is unbelievable.”

So is the fearless Spanoulis at times, a guard who seems most comfortable driving to the basket and right at giants like China’s twin towers of Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian.

The Panathinaikos lightning bolt poured in 10 of Greece’s first 20 points as they opened up a 20-13 advantage with 2:28 to go.

When Dimitris Diamantidis came up with one of his three steals and scored late in the opening frame, he capped a 10-0 run for a 27-13 lead.

They would go on to open up a huge lead by half-time.

“We tried from the beginning to press them …,” Yannakis said.

“Aggressive defense was the key.”

China emerged from the changing rooms a different team and managed to cut the deficit to 10 in the fourth quarter but got no closer.

“It was a difficult game for us,” China coach Jonas Kazlauskas said.

“They love to play defense.”

China veteran Li Nan agreed.

"At the beginning, the opponent had the full court press and we weren't accustomed to that,” Li said.

“We made a lot of mistakes. Greece played very good defense and our first half was the reason for our defeat.”

China had played and lost to Greece in the last 16 of the 2006 FIBA World Championship.

“We remembered our game of 2006 where we played two good first quarters,” Kazlauskas said.

“This game was the opposite. We had to fix what we did in the first half in the second half.

"We weren't ready for this game and when we knew this game was lost, we found our open shots.”

Yao Ming had 16 points but played just over 18 minutes.

"There was no reason to keep Yao on the court for a long time,” Kazlauskas said.

“The game wasn't close.”

By finishing third, Greece will take on Argentina while the Chinese will face Group A winners Lithuania.

“I love to play against Argentina,” Yannakis said.

“It gives us a lot of motivation to take on a group of great players. They have great personalities and great talent, too.”

As for Kazlauskas, he will lead China into battle against the national team he once coached to a bronze medal at the Sydney Olympics.

"I don't think this is going to be a psychological problem,” Kazlauskas said.

“I was assistant coach (for China) in 2004. This is my job."

FIBA