Greece vs Canada predicted starting 5s and depth charts for July 27 | 2024 Paris Olympics Basketball

Giannis Antetokounmpo's Greece and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Canada lock horns on Day 1 of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Saturday. Greece advanced to the Olympics for the first time since 2008, marking Giannis' debut campaign at the tournament. Meanwhile, the Canadians secured automatic qualification after finishing third at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

It's a high-voltage clash between two NBA MVP-caliber candidates, Giannis and SGA. The Canadians are the overwhelming favorites, with more NBA talent on their roster. Jamal Murray, Dillon Brooks, Andrew Wiggins and RJ Barrett are among the other stars headlining their roster.

Meanwhile, Giannis Antetokounmpo won't have as much support as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander around him, but the chemistry on the team is impeccable. All players are well aware of their roles, while Antetokounmpo has been firing on all cylinders. He led the team to four straight blowout wins in their unbeaten run during the Olympic qualifiers.

Giannis averaged 22.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists, shooting 62.5%. Greece will face tougher challenges against Canada and other Group A opponents, but if Giannis performs at this level, they could cause multiple upsets starting Saturday.

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Greece vs Canada predicted starting 5s and depth charts

Greece starting 5 and depth chart

Greece's predicted starting lineup includes Thomas Walkup, Nick Calathes, Georgios Papagiannis, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kostas Papanikolau.

Here's the team's depth chart:

Guards	Forwards	Centers
Nick Calathes	Giannis Antetokounmpo	Georgios Papagiannis
Thomas Walkup	Vasileios Charalampopoulos	Kostas Antetokounmpo
Giannoulis Larentzakis	Kostas Mitoglou
Vasileios Toliopoulos	Kostas Papanikolaou
Panagiotis Kalaitzakis
Dimitris Moraitis

Canada starting 5 and depth chart

Canada's predicted starting lineup will include Jamal Murray at point guard, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at shooting guard, Dillon Brooks at small forward, RJ Barrett at power forward and Dwight Powell at center.

Guards	Forwards	Centers
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Dillon Brooks	Dwight Powell
Jamal Murray	Lu Dort	Khem Birch
Andrew Nembhard	RJ Barret	Trey Lyles
Nickeil Walker-Alexander	Melvin Ejim
	Kelly Olynyk

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Canada favorites but Greece may have the tools to get prevail

Canada are the favorites to win Saturday's Paris Olympics opener. However, Greece holds an advantage with a better positional size on its roster. The Canadians also don't have much positional size comparatively, which could bug them during the contest.

Greece relied on this aspect of their game during the qualifiers, gaining a healthy advantage defensively. Their transition game was also nearly unstoppable. Canada must be clinical on offense to close Giannis Antetokounmpo and Co. out. With a backcourt featuring Jamal Murray and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, they have what it takes to get the job done.

They also have several perimeter threats. It could be an issue for Greece.