Is Greece Men's Basketball team out of 2024 Paris Olympics? Closer look as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Co. suffer 2nd loss

Greece basketball is back in the Olympics behind Giannis Antetokounmmpo. The two-time NBA MVP pushed his team to Paris with an outstanding Olympic Qualifying Tournament on home soil. In front of fans in Piraeus, the Greeks finished the said competition undefeated.

In two games in the group phase, the Greeks’ Olympic campaign is in danger of ending sooner than they hoped for. They opened the tournament with a loss to Canada 86-79 before suffering another close loss to Spain 84-77. Antetokounmpo has been nearly unstoppable but hasn’t had enough support from his teammates.

Greece is at the bottom of the standings with a 0-2 record but still has a slim chance of advancing to the quarterfinals. The first thing that they have to do is take care of business and beat Australia on Aug. 2. If they do that, they may still sneak into the knockout stage.

The Greeks are now praying Canada beats Australia by a significant margin. If that happens, they somewhat regain their fate in their hands. A win by Hellas versus the Aussies will give both teams a 1-2 card.

A three-way tie happens in second place if Antetokounmpo and Co. continue to get more favor from the Canadians. A win by Canada against Spain will be massive for Greece.

In this case, point differential will be the tiebreaker, giving Greece a decent chance of prolonging their Olympic journey. They might even grab the No. 2 spot in this scenario.

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Greece can still advance as one of the two best third-placed teams in the Olympics

The quarter-finalists in Olympic basketball will be the top two teams from each group in the preliminary stages. To make the quarterfinals an eight-team showdown, the top two third-placed teams will also have to advance. Tiebreaker will again play a key role in determining the team that moves on to the next round.

The one thing that Greece can’t afford to do is lose to Australia in its last game. They are automatically out of the tournament if they can’t get past the Boomers who have been playing well behind Josh Giddey and Patty Mills.

The Greeks can’t worry about how the other teams are doing. They have to concentrate on handling their business, particularly their perimeter defense. Giannis Antetokounmpo’s herculean efforts went for naught again as Vassilis Spanoulis’ team could not guard the 3-point line. They allowed Spain to shoot 48.4% from deep, an issue that cannot continue against the Boomers.