GRE – Greece’s Printezis gives a thumbs-up to first season in Spain

VALENCIA (2010 FIBA World Championship) - Anyone looking for a reason to think something special could happen for Greece at the FIBA World Championship again need look no further than Georgios Printezis.

The 25-year-old wasn’t around for the silver-medal run of 2006, but he’s a lynchpin in the side now and is a prime candidate to take Turkey by storm later this year.

Printezis is a solid defender, and he’s versatile, able to play at either small or power forward.

Without him, it’s safe to say, Greece would not have captured last year’s bronze medal at the EuroBasket in Poland.

Now he’s thriving with Unicaja Malaga in Spain and gearing up for an ACB play-off showdown with Barcelona.

Printezis is the only Greek playing in the Spanish post-season.

Having spent the previous two campaigns at Olympiacos, Printezis has been a strong addition to Unicaja where he is averaging more than 10 points and three rebounds per game.

Printezis told FIBA.com after Unicaja’s dramatic 83-82 win over Power Electronics Valencia in the play-off quarter-finals that the switch to Spain has allowed him to grow as a player.

"I like the way we play, and I like the ACB,” he said.

“It's a very strong and fast league and everyone, the young players like me, has a chance to improve and get better.

"I believe I'm getting better as a player in every way. I learn from everything.

“I believe that wherever I'm going to play, I'm going to learn something - especially here in Malaga. We have a very good team.”

Unicaja endured an almighty struggle at the start of the campaign with Printezis one of their few bright spots.

However, he ended up missing a lot of games after losing his balance while dunking and falling on his shoulder in a November game at Cajasol Sevilla.

“For sure, it was a very bad injury,” he said.

In the 2-0 sweep of Power Electronics Valencia in the ACB play-off quarter-finals, though, Printezis looked better than ever.

“I stayed out for one and a half months and lost my rhythm, but now I'm feeling better and have more energy and it's also good that the team is winning,” he said.

Printezis got to play in that bizarre opening-game thriller at Valencia and scored 14 points.

The game had numerous twists and turns and finally went the way of Malaga when Zabian Dowdell, coming out of timeout with three seconds left, drove into the lane and made a difficult lay-up at the buzzer for a one-point triumph.

Printezis and his Unicaja teammates celebrated on the floor.

Afterward, the Greek said: "I have played many games like that, like in Greece.

“I like those games, even more because we won in the end.”

At the FIBA World Championship, Greece will go up against Russia, Ivory Coast, Puerto Rico, China and hosts Turkey in Group C.

Rather than give a detailed prediction of what he expects to happen for Greece, Printezis said: "We will try to take it step by step.”

While Printezis wasn’t in the Greek team of 2006, he doesn’t hesitate to offer a response when asked for his abiding memory of the FIBA World Championship in Japan.

“Everyone will remember the win against the United States and the team spirit,” he said.

Greece upset the United States 101-95 in their last-four clash, leading to huge celebrations in the streets of Athens.

Might something special be in store for Greece again?

“We’re going to give our best,” Printezis said.

Jeff Taylor
FIBA