After being competitive the entire game against the defending world champs - and then taking the lead in the 3rd quarter - Ellas lost their concentration and blew it against Spain this afternoon in the first leg of the knockout round of the 2010 World Championships in Constantinople.
Greece took a four-point lead late in the third behind the shooting and defense of Dimitris Diamantidis. But midway through the final quarter Greece turned it over 3 straight possessions to literally hand the game to Spain. The turnovers were the result of incredibly sloppy passes, more unforced errors than turnovers.
Down the stretch Greece looked uber-European in a basketball sense: no concentration, which manifested itself in a 7 for 16 night at the free throw line; and terrible decisions and bad passes, a simple lack of basketball sense that is the biggest difference between American and European players - we are just smarter and concentrate more than they do.
Greece bows out way too early, in the round of 32, instead of competing for a medal. Both Greece and Spain underachieved in the group stage; that's why they met so soon. Greece ended up third in their group behind Turkey and Russia - a team they should have beaten. Doing so would have meant a second place finish and more importantly avoiding Spain.
So instead of defending their silver medal from 4 years ago Greece goes home way too early. It looks like Ellas really missed the back court play of Theo Papaloukas, a smart point guard who rarely made mistakes in leading Greece to the 2005 European championship and the silver medal in the 2006 world championships, including the semi-final win over the U.S.
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