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This is an account of life in an Olympic city. Capturing the final preparations before the Opening Ceremony as well as the Games themselves.
Friday, August 20, 2004
19 Aug, Basketball Greece - Lithuania, Session 237
The first game of the session was Argentina vs China, apart from the few graphic chinese and loud Argentinians, most Greek spectators had come a bit early to see Yao Ming, the Chinese giant that plays in the NBA and also features in the Apple Powerbook ad (together with Mini-me).
Argentina totally obliterated the Chinese who were totally useless... poor Yao Ming did not seem to be in same court as his team mates (he was "Phoning it in" as a friend said).
Now to the main event... the crowd grew with anticipation. There was a big and very organised Lithuanian support as well. They had whistles and horns that made alot of noise.
The Greek crowd was very thunderous as usual with its Euro2004 chants and its flag waving
Greece started pretty well in the game reaching a 8-5 lead... when Stombergas started shooting 3pointers at will, marked or unmarked!
In the next few minutes the Greek team simply disintegrated under the unbelievable accuracy of the Lithuanian 3-pointers. The Lithuanians shot 4 3-pointers in successive attacks...
This was a team that Greece had beaten twice in the friendly games leading to the Olympics. Still now they played like the were repossesed.
It was a very painful experience for all of us Greek fans.
In my revious post about the GRE-USA game I have warned the US fans on what to expect from Lithuania, unfortunately they proved me right in this game. I sincerely hope that they play with the same flair against the US. It is not too much to say that this team is a very strong candidate for the gold medal.
I have to mention the ferocity with which the Lithuanian team and coach were playing even when they had reached a 28 point lead. Did they want to prove something? Did they have a grudge against their hosts?
Why did their coach take a Time Out in the last seconds of the game? he was heavily booed for that. As where the referees that were totally out of it (but in no way altered the result)
All in all the Greek team has to find ways to play against very tight defenses.
In this game we did not play bad defensively, it was the astonishing shooting percentages of the Lithuanians that caused all the trouble!
In the last minutes when the Greek team managed to reduce the difference to a more decent 22 points the support of the crowd was more than moving. While the Lithuanian crowd was shouting ironic remarks to the Greek team the Greek crowd was singing the usual chant of "Hellas Ole Ole" and cheering up their side.
Argentina totally obliterated the Chinese who were totally useless... poor Yao Ming did not seem to be in same court as his team mates (he was "Phoning it in" as a friend said).
Now to the main event... the crowd grew with anticipation. There was a big and very organised Lithuanian support as well. They had whistles and horns that made alot of noise.
The Greek crowd was very thunderous as usual with its Euro2004 chants and its flag waving
Greece started pretty well in the game reaching a 8-5 lead... when Stombergas started shooting 3pointers at will, marked or unmarked!
In the next few minutes the Greek team simply disintegrated under the unbelievable accuracy of the Lithuanian 3-pointers. The Lithuanians shot 4 3-pointers in successive attacks...
This was a team that Greece had beaten twice in the friendly games leading to the Olympics. Still now they played like the were repossesed.
It was a very painful experience for all of us Greek fans.
In my revious post about the GRE-USA game I have warned the US fans on what to expect from Lithuania, unfortunately they proved me right in this game. I sincerely hope that they play with the same flair against the US. It is not too much to say that this team is a very strong candidate for the gold medal.
I have to mention the ferocity with which the Lithuanian team and coach were playing even when they had reached a 28 point lead. Did they want to prove something? Did they have a grudge against their hosts?
Why did their coach take a Time Out in the last seconds of the game? he was heavily booed for that. As where the referees that were totally out of it (but in no way altered the result)
All in all the Greek team has to find ways to play against very tight defenses.
In this game we did not play bad defensively, it was the astonishing shooting percentages of the Lithuanians that caused all the trouble!
In the last minutes when the Greek team managed to reduce the difference to a more decent 22 points the support of the crowd was more than moving. While the Lithuanian crowd was shouting ironic remarks to the Greek team the Greek crowd was singing the usual chant of "Hellas Ole Ole" and cheering up their side.
