In today’s high-stakes matchup between Greece and Bosnia, there was one major star missing from the action: Giannis Antetokounmpo. Citing knee discomfort, the Greek Freak was notably absent from the court, but, shockingly, Jusuf Nurkic said that it had little impact on the results.
“It didn’t change a lot,” said Nurkic on what changed when Giannis was ruled out. “We still had the same attachment to the defense and our offense. Regardless of who wants to play there, you have to have the same discipline.“
For Nurkic to brush off the impact of a champion and two-time MVP like Giannis is nothing short of disrespectful. While he’s only played in two EuroBasket games so far, he’s been on fire with averages of 29.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. Without their leader, Greece lost by three points to Bosnia (80-77), but Nurkic credited the win to his team’s discipline and focus.
“For most of the night, we did have a lot of discipline, but we still have to learn to be better at helping on shooters,” said Nurkic. “When shooters catch and shoot, we had our hands down. We have to learn from there, but I’ll take any win.”
In the end, while resting Giannis likely cost them the game, Greece had already qualified for the next round of EuroBasket after going undefeated in their first three games. Bosnia, however, still has work to do.
“It doesn’t mean anything or everything,” Nurkic added. “We didn’t finish the job. They already qualified, and we didn’t. We have one more game against Georgia, and we have 24 hours to rest and regroup and [develop] a game plan for Georgia.”
Bosnia and Georgia currently boast identical records, and their game will set the stage for the final stretch of the tournament. Of course, the bigger story was on Nurkic’s words after the game, which came after being called out by his own coach for being “out of shape.”
His statement on Giannis, besides being disrespectful, is the latest evidence of a rivalry between the Europeans. Earlier this week, he claimed that Giannis “sucked” when forcing him into jump shots and that it was the formula to limit his success on the court. Of course, an Italian coach had a much different strategy for countering Giannis, but the comments were made in a much more respectful and playful tone.
In the case of Nurkic, he’s claiming that Antetokounmpo’s lack of participation in the game barely made a difference, and he’s dead serious. It’s a bold statement from a veteran big man who has never been known as an elite defender. While he finished this game with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and three steals, Greece was still able to make the game close by shooting 45.9% from the field and 39.3% from beyond the arc.
It remains to be seen how long Bosnia can survive, but Nurkic certainly isn’t doing them any favors by provoking one of the best players in the game. For Nurk’s sake, he’d better hope that he doesn’t have to face Greece again this summer, or his words may come back to bite him in the worst way possible.
With NBA averages of 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 6.5 assists per game on 60.1% shooting for the Milwaukee Bucks last season, Giannis isn’t the type to let these kinds of comments go unanswered, and you can bet he’ll use it as fuel to help empower a championship run for his home team.
