SAITAMA, Japan -- Now that Dirk Nowitzki is gone, the United States is headed
for a gold medal game showdown with Spain or Argentina.
Not exactly. It only seems that way around here.
For days, U.S. players have been asked about a potential matchup with one of
those two international powerhouses in the final game of the world
championships. Meanwhile, the other unbeaten team, which just happens to be the
reigning European champion, has remained largely anonymous.
And Greece's players wouldn't mind at all if they stay that way to the
Americans.
"I hope that's true. For me, it's good like this," Greek guard Theodoros
Papaloukas said. "If the game goes wrong for them, they'll be stressed."
The U.S. and Greece meet in Friday night's first semifinal game, followed by
Spain and Argentina in the nightcap. All four teams are 7-0.
After winning a balanced Group C, Greece has been just as impressive in its
two wins here as the other three teams. Those victories over China and France
still haven't made the Greek players very recognizable to those outside Europe.
Spain has Pau Gasol. Argentina has Manu Ginobili.
Greece has some big names, too -- though only in length.
"The names are too long," Carmelo Anthony said. "The names are very, very
long. I'm going to have to learn them overnight."
The U.S. earned its spot in the semifinals with an 85-65 victory over
Nowitzki and Germany on Wednesday night. The Americans turned up their defensive
pressure to break away in the third quarter, overcoming a horrendous shooting
night in which they missed 30 of 40 3-point attempts against the Germany zone.
Greece didn't need to see that spurt to realize what the Americans can do
when they can force turnovers to fuel their transition game.
"You do not want it in the open court because if the U.S. runs up and down
the court it gets opportunity to play an easy game," Greek coach Panagiotis
Yannakis said. "We have to play our game with defense and don't pass the ball to
their hands. If you do this, you're in the game."
Defensively, Greece wants to play the same way. Using their big guards to key
a trapping defense, the Greeks force 24 turnovers per game
They could have some success because none of the primary American
ballhandlers: Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade and Kirk Hinrich, is big. However, Mike
Krzyzewski could get around that by having LeBron James bring the ball up and
initiate the offense, as he has done frequently.
Greece held France to its lowest point total in the tournament in a 73-56
victory in Wednesday's first quarterfinal. Now the Greeks can guarantee
themselves a second straight medal in a top event.
"If it's USA and we have to beat them to get a medal, we just have to bring
down the lights," said Greek forward Sofokolis Schortsanitis, who bears a strong
resemblance to former Florida player Dametri "Da Meat Hook" Hill.
A victory would bring recognition to a team that has no current NBA players.
Antonis Fotsis played briefly with the Memphis Grizzlies, and guard Vasilis
Spanoulis is headed to the Houston Rockets. That's about the limit of Greece's
ties to the NBA.
Still, the Americans have promised not to take their opponents for granted
and assume a spot in Sunday's game is theirs.
"Our team won't look past Greece," Krzyzewski said. "Greece hasn't lost. You
just watch them on tape, and if you're a player, coach who knows anything about
basketball, you say, 'Those guys can play."'
Papaloukas is probably Greece's best, having earned MVP honors at the
European championships and the Euroleague Final Four last year. Now he tries to
put his team a win away from its biggest title yet.
"I'm not stupid to say I know we can beat the United States. But I know that
we're going to try very hard and give all our energy for this game," Papaloukas
said.
"And you know, by the way, basketball is basketball. USA has the big
advantage, but you never know. Basketball is like life sometimes. Don't make
plans for life because life has different plans for you. That's what I say."
