David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Giannis Antetokounmpo, despite his loads of NBA accolades and the championship ring he won in the toughest league in the world, hasn’t tasted much FIBA success yet, something he will surely hope to change at the 2022 Eurobasket. With his physical advantages, the Greek Freak should be able to put up Wilt Chamberlain-like numbers in this competition, as he already did last week during the World Cup qualifiers with Greece when he dropped 40 points against Serbia (albeit in a loss) and 26 points against Belgium. The team’s new head coach, Dimitris Itoudis, has made Antetokounmpo more of a focal point than Thanasis Skourtopoulos did at the 2019 World Cup where Greece struggled, and the numbers have born that out.
Giannis Antetokounmpo in four games with Greece (two prep games, two official FIBA WC qualifier games):
30.3 PPG
65.0 FG%
41.1 3FG%
61.5 FT%
7.3 RPG
3-1 record— Dionysis Aravantinos (@AravantinosDA) August 29, 2022
The Greek team will be beastly from a physical perspective and could boast the tournament’s toughest defense. It’ll come down to Antetokounmpo, however, if the country can medal at the senior national team level for the first time since 2009, as he’s going to need to be his NBA MVP-level self for Greece to take down some of 2022 Eurobasket’s other loaded squads in the knockout rounds.
