Luka Doncic’s Olympic journey with Slovenia comes to an end after a defeat to Giannis Antetokounmpo of Greece At the qualification, Greece proved to be too formidable for the Slovenian national team, despite the efforts of Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic, who tried to lead his country to a second consecutive Olympic birth.
PIRAEUS, Greece — Superstar Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks made an effort to lead Slovenia’s national team to an Olympic bid. But in the Olympic qualifying match on Saturday at Peace and Friendship Stadium, the team fell short, 93-65, against Greece. Doncic left the game early, with Slovenia trailing by a large margin and little time left to mount a comeback. He finished with 21 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Let me start by congratulating Greece. They were really combative at first. Doncic remarked, “I think their team is incredible. “They have Giannis, of course, but other players are equally vital to them. Moreover, they are quite close. So kudos to them. We were surpassed by them today.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo made a significant impact, but not only his impact but his supporting cast proved too significant for Slovenia to handle within this matchup. With Greece’s frontcourt size in abundance, the goal was to pack the paint, make it as challenging as possible for Doncic to attack downhill, and create advantages for teammates. Greece did mix it up in ball screen coverage by having Antetokounmpo guard Josh Nebo at times and switch when guarding pick-and-roll while shrinking the floor.
Antetokounmpo scored the first five points of the game by exploiting his size advantage against Josh Nebo, who stands at 6-foot-7. Nick Calathos played out of pick-and-roll for a few finger rolls to continue Greece’s momentum, establishing a 9-0 lead to start entering the game’s first timeout. Antetokounmpo scored again by attacking Vlatko Cancar in the post by going baseline before throwing down an emphatic dunk. A turnover from Slovenia resulted in a layup for Greece, making it a 13-0 start for the host.
“Well, first, they have Giannis, and he is a lot, but then other players like Calathes and Walkup organize the team very well,” Doncic said. “Papagiannis is there, Papanikolaou, and they are a very experienced team. They all know how to play basketball and are very well-coached by coach Spanoulis. They are a great team, and I wish them all the luck.”
