Friday, September 2, and the national team will make their EuroBasket debut against Croatia. A team that does not have the glamor of the past, there is no Petrovich, Kukoch or Raja, but this is a basketball school with all the consequences.

The Greek team is trying to build up disagreements, the Croats “bite” and bring the match to the thriller final. The timer shows 1.5 minutes, with the score 84-82 and the ball in the hands of our opponents. And… somewhere there, Giannis Antetokounmpo undertakes to finish the match, with personal interference both in defense and in attack.

However, the phase in which all the greatness of the “Greek freak,” the player that the US and the NBA have been “talking about” for years, manifested itself in the last 15 seconds of the game or so. At 86-82, Croatia is desperate for a fast basket to stay alive.

Kezonia “opens” the field, stays on top for defensive balance, and passes to his left at a 45-degree angle to Simon. Giannis is under the Greek basket and sees the ball break out of Simon’s hands for an extra pass to an unprotected Smith in the corner (corner 3). The timer shows 12 seconds and one tenth.

In a second and a tenth (11 seconds), the Bucks star will have time to take two huge steps and rush (without quotes) to the ball. Smith’s shot is deflected and Hezonia, who controls the Croatian backline, is surprised to see that Antetokounmpo, after this excessive effort, goes one-on-one on him. Against a very dynamic player like the former Panathinaikos ace, Giannis will score a basket and foul to end the match.

The unimaginable action of the “Greek Freak” with Croatia, which left those who managed to … decipher it speechless.

So, when almost all the players in Greece and Croatia “weighed” their last breaths in the match, the “Greek freak” had the most reserves of all: teammates and rivals. After a grueling match, he had the clarity to understand and predict that Smith would receive the decisive blow that the Croats had been waiting for.

He had a blast (despite his 211 cm), faith, instinct and mentality to believe that he could pull off this, a few seconds ago, an unimaginable defensive effort.

Giannis has technical shortcomings, but his methodical, hard work, basketball personality and the perception he developed have propelled him to the top of world basketball.

It is because of all these “invisible” details in many moments of the match that the national team looks like it is playing with six players on the court. The ones that make hard things easy, the ones that liberate and instill confidence in their teammates, the ones that inspire awe in opponents and fans.