Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece have kicked off EuroBasket 2025 in a dominant fashion. Having won all three of their games so far, Greece has secured a spot in the Round of 16, with two more games to go. Their next challenge comes on Tuesday, facing Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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Giannis has put on a show in the two games he’s played at EuroBasket 2025. He dropped 31 points and 7 rebounds in their opener against Italy and followed it up with a 27-point, 8-rebound effort vs Georgia. Greece chose to rest Antetokounmpo against Cyprus, seeing how it was on the front end of a back-to-back.
In his two showings, Giannis has reminded the world what he’s capable of. Despite his stellar form, his next opponent, Jusuf Nurkic, believes he has a way to slow down the Greek Freak. “Of course, you’ve got to slow down Giannis. You’ve got to build the wall for him,” Nurkic said.
He then pointed out how Greece dominated from beyond the three-point line against Georgia, going 14-of-25 from deep. “He’s not the only one. We have to contain everybody else. We can’t allow so many threes,” Nurkic continued. “When we build the wall, we’ve got to still protect the three-point line. That’s going to be a key. Slow him down on the fast break, which is his number one thing to do.”
Talking about how Giannis plays the 5 for Greece often, Nurkic said, “But at the end of the day, just stop him in transition and live with his shots. Generally, he’s sucked at those defenses the last few years he’s played in EuroBasket. But it’s not only him, so we will be ready.”
Having faced off against each other 10 times in the NBA, Nurkic has a lot of experience playing Giannis. He highlighted how the Greek star is different in FIBA competitions, as compared to the NBA.
“Of course he’s different. In the NBA, he has so much space, with shooters like Brook Lopez spreading the floor, he’s almost unstoppable. Here it’s another game, no defensive three seconds, so much happening in the paint, but he’s still a dominant player,” added Nurkic.
Giannis averages 29.9 points while playing against Nurkic, along with 9.7 rebounds and 4.8 assists. It remains to be seen if Nurk’s tactics can pay off for Bosnia and Herzegovina tomorrow, who are desperately searching for their second win of the tournament.
If Giannis and Greece prevail tomorrow, it could mean the end of EuroBasket for Bosnia and Herzegovina. The two teams clash at 8 AM EDT on September 2, and the game can be caught on Courtside 1891.
