Greece head coach Vassilis Spanoulis faces the perennial puzzle of maximizing Giannis Antetokounmpo's impact under FIBA rules. With roster changes and lost prep time, EuroBasket 2025 may see Giannis in a different role — transforming Greece’s style into pace-and-space, risk-laden dynamism.
When Giannis Antetokounmpo suits up for Greece, his presence is both a blessing and a structural challenge.
For a decade, every Greek coach — from Fotis Katsikaris to Dimitris Itoudis — has faced the same puzzle: how to maximize the NBA's most unique weapon under FIBA rules, in shorter preparation windows, and with different personnel constraints.
Vassilis Spanoulis, entering his first EuroBasket as head coach, inherits not only that puzzle but also a reshuffled roster and a disrupted preparation schedule.
Compared to Greece's run at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the current national team's roster and circumstances could nudge him toward a fundamentally different deployment of Giannis.
The roster context: Additions & absences
Spanoulis' EuroBasket squad will not be the same as their Olympic roster.
Veteran point guard Kostas Sloukas returns, bringing elite pick-and-roll craft and halfcourt orchestration.
Shooting guard Tyler Dorsey also re-enters the fold, giving Greece a floor-spacer and secondary creator who was missing in Paris.
Credit HBF
On the other hand, defensive orchestrator Thomas Walkup, who at the Olympics handled primary playmaking and set the defensive tone, is unavailable.
Rim-protecting center Giorgos Papagiannis is also out, removing a drop-coverage anchor and lob target.
Absent again is wing Nikos Rogkavopoulos. Panathinaikos' new signing has once more declined national team duties, costing Greece one of its better shooters.
This turnover changes not only the team's spacing but also its defensive schemes — and in turn, Giannis' role.
The prep time problem
Despite speculation about Giannis' uncertain status, the Milwaukee Bucks star will be present in Cyprus and, potentially, Latvia if Greece qualifies for the final round.
However, Giannis already missed half of Greece's preparation games.
Consequently, Spanoulis had to design a system that could function both with and without him in the short term, then integrate him on the fly.
That is an unusually tight tactical timeline for a player whose usage has such a massive ripple effect.
Lessons from the 2024 Olympics
At the Paris Games, Giannis was used primarily as a slashing power forward in halfcourt sets, with Walkup initiating and Papagiannis screening.
In transition, Greece unleashed him as the breakaway spearhead. He would Eurostep to the rim before defenses could get set.
Defensively, he roamed more than anchored, switching onto guards, blowing up passing lanes, and serving as a help-side shot-blocker.
The presence of Papagiannis meant Giannis could stay free from constant rim protection duties.
Without Papagiannis and with Sloukas as the primary initiator, Spanoulis may tilt Giannis toward more small-ball center minutes — especially in closing lineups.
Here's why:
Defensive flexibility: Without a true drop big, Greece can switch more across positions.
Giannis at the 5 allows Spanoulis to play four shooters/ballhandlers around him, forcing opponents to guard in space and opening up transition opportunities.
Halfcourt spacing for Sloukas: The veteran guard thrives in pick-and-rolls when the screener can both roll hard and keep the lane unclogged.
Giannis as the primary screener — instead of lurking on the weak side — would give Sloukas a lob threat and pull help defenders toward the paint.
Credit HBF
The risk-reward balance
Greece could play faster, score more efficiently, and exploit Giannis' all-court game in a way that neither the Bucks' halfcourt-heavy system nor the 2024 Olympic lineup fully allowed.
Why we trust Greece in this EuroBasket:
The downside to that is the physical toll.
At center, Giannis absorbs more contact from bulkier post players and takes on primary rim-protection responsibilities.
With his injury history and limited prep time, Spanoulis will need to manage minutes and choose matchups carefully — perhaps using Giannis at the 5 as a change-up rather than the default.
Style implications for Greece
A Giannis-at-center blueprint would mark a clear stylistic departure from Greece's recent identity.
Instead of a traditional inside-out game anchored by Papagiannis, Spanoulis could steer toward pace-and-space with a defensive press-switch core, much closer to the positionless style of modern NBA playoff teams.
It also puts enormous creative responsibility on Sloukas, who will need to navigate when to attack himself as opposed to feeding Giannis in motion, and on Dorsey, who becomes the high-volume perimeter release valve.
Since Giannis has missed Greece's first four prep games, Spanoulis' biggest challenge will be chemistry.
The coaching staff may need to simplify schemes initially, leaning on concepts Giannis already knows — simple high pick-and-rolls, early offense, and switch-everything defense — before layering in the more complex Spanoulis playbook.
Credit HBF
EuroBasket 2025 could be the tournament where Greece fully unleashes Giannis as a small-ball center, something his NBA coaches have used only situationally, and the 2024 Olympic team avoided due to roster makeup.
Whether Spanoulis makes that shift by necessity or by design, it will redefine the team's style — faster, more open, and potentially more dangerous, but also more dependent on Giannis' health and stamina.
Giorgos Kyriakidis
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