More Greek drama on the way

ATHENS (EuroBasket Women) - There have been highs and lows for the Greece women’s national team the past several years.

Turn back the clock and remember what happened on 20 June, 2009, in the Arena Riga.

That was a high.

First, there was a very important EuroBasket Women game played between Greece and Italy, a battle for fifth place that would clinch the last spot on offer for the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women.

Second, there was a traditional Greek dance that broke out at mid court after the Kostas Missas-coached side came from behind to stun the Italians, 60-56.

The celebrations were off the charts because the Greeks reached the World Championship for the very first time.

After playing at the tournament the following year in the Czech Republic, plenty of disappointment followed.

Greece won their first game at EuroBasket Women 2011 in Poland, defeating Latvia, 67-57, but then lost to Croatia and France and crashed out of the tournament.

The following year it got worse as Greece came up short of qualifying for the EuroBasket Women 2013 in France.

But last year, the Greeks rebounded in grand style by winning the 1st Qualification Round to seal a place in the EuroBasket Women 2015.

The team was recently drawn in Group B and will face Turkey, Italy, Poland and Belarus.

"A tournament like this is always difficult for the Greek team," said Dimitra Kalentzou, a veteran point guard who played in 2009 and also was in the squad that qualified for next year’s EuroBasket.

She said that Turkey are the favorites but the rest of the group is balanced.

"It's too early to say something more because we don't know the teams’ rosters, yet," she said.

Here is the situation.

The Greeks are trying to recapture the magic of 2009 while at the same time begin a new era.

They have links to the past in boss George Dikeoulakos, an assistant coach to Missas five years ago, as well as some of the former players.

Just how many of the veterans compete next summer remains to be seen.

Kalentzou, a 1.74m point guard who did a little bit of everything to help Greece win games in 2009, will be 37 when the EuroBasket Women is played.

New faces are starting to emerge.

"Now, after all these years, it's normal for the team to have changes and young players," Kalentzou said. 

"Artemis Spanou and Anna-Niki Stamolabrou are the players that I believe that will help the team.

"I'm sure that they are ready and they have maturity to play in such a big tournament."

Just as Kalentzou remembers Riga vividly, she also remembers the disappointments.

The team’s success two years ago helped remove some of the sting of 2012.

"I'm very glad and enthusiastic that we ll be back to the EuroBasket Women 2015 after an absence of two years," she said.

"It was a very bad feeling for us, the disqualification from EuroBasket in France. 

"Now our thoughts are only on the next EuroBasket."

Dikeoulakos, an assistant coach to Kostas Missas in the 2009 team, steered the Greeks to six wins in their seven 1st Qualification Round games for next year’s EuroBasket.

The big result came in the first leg of the Finals of the qualifying against Poland in Greece, a game the hosts won, 61-46.

All of the players were able to breathe a sigh of relief after that triumph because they had a commanding lead to take back to Poland.

The Greeks had a 14-point triumph on aggregate and a spot in the EuroBasket Women.

One of the other stars in the national team set-up who was injured, Stella Kaltsidou, had to settle for being one of the team’s biggest fans during the EuroBasket Women 2015 qualifying campaign.

Greece did not not have to compete in the 2nd Qualification Round.

"It was very positive for us to have qualified so early because it gave time to the coach and the team to play some friendly games this past summer," Kalentzou said. 

"The coach had the opportunity to try some young players."

Dikeoulakos, who was the head coach of the Latvia team that lost to Greece at the EuroBasket Women in 2011 but has come back to lead his own country, has been very successful with club sides like Athinaikos, Lotos Gdynia, Fenerbahce and currently Nadezhda.

Kalentzou says Dikeoulakos has been able to add some new wrinkles to the national team that has made it more formidable.

"I believe that the (Greek) team is not so different," Kalentzou said, when asked to compare it to the 2009 and 2010 versions, "because they (the players) worked together for many years they have almost the same philosophy. 

"But coach George, after all these years of experience, has added new elements to the team."

Dikeoulakos will have to prepare the team well for the EuroBasket Women and before that, he’ll have to make the tough decisions about which players to take and which ones to leave behind.

The veterans have the experience but the youngsters, some of who got a shot to play in friendly games in 2014, will be competing for some of the same spots.

There are no guarantees.

One veteran who is back in the frame after an injury-riddled few years is Kaltsidou, a very important player in the teams of 2009, ’10 and ’11.

Kaltsidou has a lot of EuroLeague Women games under her belt as well, with Bourges and currently Turkish side Agu Spor, the Kayseri outfit that travelled to Russia and beat Dikeoulakos’ Nadezhda, 53-49, on Wednesday.

The 1.88m forward Kaltsidou, who turns 32 next month, played 30 minutes and had 13 points, four rebounds and a couple of steals.

"She looks healthy and she wants very much to help us," Dikeoulakos said. 

"With her, we add EuroLeague experience who with (Nadezhda’s Zoe) Dimitrakou are the only players with experience of a big level and at the same time, we become not a tall but a semi-tall team which is difficult to defend."

It’s far too early to know what is going to happen with Greece at the EuroBasket Women.

The players have to make it through an entire season and the coach will then weigh his options.

What it’s never too early, or too late, to do is to remember the good times for Greece.

"We all have the best memories from Latvia!" Kalentzou said.

Maybe the Greeks are going to create some lasting memories next summer, too.

FIBA