France slip past Greece 64 – 56 to qualify for semi finals of FIBA EuroBasket - Part 1
In the quarter final of the FIBA EuroBasket, the unbeaten team France recorded a come from behind win over Greece with a 64 – 56 score line. The French had a number of NBA players on their roster and were considered favourites
going into the game, but Greece made them work really hard for the win.
A low scoring affair was dominated by Tony Parker for the French as the veteran point guard ran the show. He scored 18 points and dictated temp for his side. Parker had assistance from Nando De Colo, who recorded 16 valuable points.
Nicolas Batum played a part with 15 points and Joakim Noah was solid on the boards as he grabbed a team high 8.
For the Greeks, Ioannis Bourousis was a one man army. He led his side in scoring, with 17 points, rebounding, with 11 boards, and had the most blocks. Nikolaos Zisis directed traffic with his 5 assists. Unfortunately for Greece,
Bourousis was the only player who made it into double figures and that ended up costing them dearly.
Greece Forward Konstantinos Kaimakoglou lamented the lack of concentration at the end of the game by his side. He also singled out Parker and Batum as two players who hurt the Greeks when it mattered.
"We played well for 40 minutes. Unfortunately, we didn't make the final four. Basketball is details. In the fourth quarter we lost our concentration and we let Nicolas Batum take open shots which he made. Also Tony Parker at the
end hit some big shots for them. We nevertheless still had our chances. Now we must put this defeat behind us. Tomorrow we have a crucial game."
Greece Head Coach Ilias Zouros defended his side after the loss and said he had no complaints, even though their defence might have given way at the crucial points.
"I'm proud of my team. We are here with many problems. My players gave 100 per cent. They did their best. We made some very bad mistakes on defence.”
The Greeks came racing out at the start, going 7 – 0 up within just 4 minutes. They then used an 8 – 0 run to extend the lead to its largest point at 15 – 4 with 4:03 remaining in the first quarter. The game looked like getting
away from the French at that moment but they hit back to end the quarter on a 10 – 2 sprint which reduced the gap to just 3 points.
Both sides were pretty evenly matched in the 2nd quarter and traded baskets with regularity. Greece did not relinquish the lead at any point and forced the French to go in at the interval trailing at 27 – 31.
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