Germany is in the Olympic semi-finals for the first time in history! Greece with Antetokounmpo gave battle to the world champions
Nikita Biryukov August 6, 2024, 14:45 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
The world champions faltered in the first quarter, but played wonderfully in the rest.
The group stage is over and so it’s time for the playoffs of the Olympic Games in France. Only the best of the best made it to the quarter-finals of the 2024 Olympics. The first to meet in the match for reaching the semi-finals were the reigning world champions from Germany and the one who was lucky enough to advance from third place in the “group of death” – the Greek national team. How the match went, who shone on the field and a detailed analysis of the game – in the material “Championship”.
Giannis Antetokounmpo fights against Franz Wagner
Photo: fiba.basketball
Germany, as the favourites of the pair, seemed to have to impose their rhythm and play from the first minutes, but Greece was against them. Vassilis Spanoulis’ team prevented the opponent from moving the ball, plunging them into a stupor. Konstantinos Mitroglou, on the other hand, was unstoppable: he scored points and worked on defense. Then Giannis Antetokounmpo lit up and went one-on-one with the Germans, who needed a timeout. After Gordon Herbert’s instructions, the reigning world champions seemed to be back in the game. However, Greece seemed to have made an 18:6 advance and were simply magnificent in both halves of the court. A mega-confident start by the nominal outsider of the meeting: 21:11.
In the second half of the match, Greece’s lead began to disappear rapidly. First, Franz Wagner began to deal with Antetokounmpo in almost every attack, and then Nick Weiler-Babb, with a clever pass, made it two with a foul. Germany reduced the gap to five points, but a difficult three-pointer by Vasileos Toliopoulos, with resistance, brought the Greeks back into the game. But not for long: the German quintet, led by Schröder, came back, the team began to move the ball well, to find free moments to shoot, taking advantage of the combinations that coach Herbert had in store. Germany turned the game around by winning the quarter by 25:15.
Dennis Schroeder
Photo: fiba.basketball
The score was tied at 36:36, and the teams came out of a long break and continued the match. They started to exchange effective attacks, with Thomas Walkup (twice) and Kostas Papanikolaou scoring three shots from distance. Greece accelerated and managed to gain an 11:6 lead. The world champions responded to this with their successful actions, first tying the score and then taking the lead for the first time in the match. Franz Wagner scored an incredibly difficult three-pointer. The forward started to look better than in the first half, and gradually became the most important player in the German line-up on the court. The Greeks lost in the third quarter by 16:23.
To understand the intensity of passions in the final quarter, I will only say that in five minutes of play the teams scored only eight points between them. Defense and intensity came to the fore. From time to time, one of the players managed to hit the ball exactly on target. For Greece, only Antetokounmpo converted his shots, and for the Germans, the leaders, Franz Wagner and Schröder, got involved, bringing the advantage to “+10” and ending the match with a score of 76:63.
Sad Giannis Antetokounmpo
Photo: fiba.basketball
NBA superstar Antetokounmpo scored 22 points, becoming the most productive player in the match. But most likely he would change everything to win and reach the semi-finals. The German team stood out: Franz Wagner – 18 points and Schröder – 13 points, seven assists. The Greeks tore their opponents apart in the first half of the match. The Germans clearly did not expect such pressure from the enemy, who was stronger in all areas of the site and was incredibly motivated. What can we say if the Bundesteam was not able to perform any normal combinations and had to rely heavily on isolation in the first quarter?
From the second quarter onwards, Herbert changed the game: Germany started to push Antetokounmpo out of the paint in many ways, which opened up spaces to get inside, where players tried to pressure the opponent under the basket or passed to a free partner if one of the Greeks ran to the safety net. Germany has a more diverse and higher-quality roster without leaning towards a leader’s game. Greece with and without Antetokounmpo are completely different teams. Giannis gave his all, but even that was not enough.
For the first time in Olympic history, Germany found itself in the semi-finals, where the stronger Canada-France pairing is already waiting. There are still many interesting encounters ahead in the quarter-finals of the 2024 Olympic Games, which the “Championship” will broadcast live to you.
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