The video is worth watching.
Greece did just about everything wrong down the stretch. Nearly every key possession involved a turnover or a near turnover. They almost never possessed the ball anywhere but beyond the 3-point line, they did little to get each other open, and many of their passes were weak, forced, or off target. They never threatened to draw a foul, nor get a layup of any kind.
One of Greece's worst possessions came when they were down five in the final minute (after a magnificent Manu Ginobili drive for Argentina). They noodled around on the perimeter and the baseline, trying to give Argentina the ball three or four times. At one point the ball was bouncing uncontrollably out of play, and you'd almost want to credit Greece with a steal just for getting that wild ball back.
That possession, though, which would make any coach shudder, ended in a banked 3-pointer from Panagiotis Vasilopoulos. The game, somehow, was within two.
And they were not done.
After a Ginobili miss on a 3 that probably would have made Gregg Popovich surly, the Greek team had a real crack at the win. Sadly, they were out of miracles, managing only an errant 3 before the clock expired.
Fun game to watch, though, and a good chance to get a look at Team USA's next opponent.
Argentina is loaded with NBA-quality talent, but I am totally done writing "the U.S. better be careful" predictions. The U.S. will win unless something crazy happens.
