END OF THE ROAD FOR GREEK ICON

Dimitris Diamantidis grabs a rebound
in file photo.

For Team Greece, one of the title-favorites, they only have themselves to blame for their early exit in the FIBA World Championships in Turkey. The fancied Greek squad suffered a heartbreaking 80-72 loss to the defending champions, Spain. Two things contributed to their downfall. First, if they have only played their hearts out and won against Russia during the group stages, they would have avoided meeting Spain and play lightweight New Zealand instead. Secondly, if they played intelligently against the Spanish team, they could have advance to the next round. They failed to do both. With the unexpected climax to their campaign, Greek basketball icon Dimitris Diamantidis has finally announced his retirement from international play, according to FIBA.com.

“It’s the end of a long journey that had many beautiful moments, like Belgrade and Japan. Now the time is for young players to come into the team.”