The EuroBasket champs from Greece successfully started their campaign to defend the title with a 76-66 win over Israel in the second game of Group A tonight in Granada.

Israel, coming into the game with some huge momentum from the additional qualifying round, put up a big fight against the title-holders.

Greece couldn't put their opponents away until the final quarter, when they caught fire

		Israel's Yotam Halperin had 20 points in the loss.

from long range, connecting on five of seven three-point shots at one point.

They came to EuroBasket without the injured Antonis Fotsis and feared it might affect the team's performance, but tonight they had nothing to worry about.

The team's two other power forwards – Kostas Tsartsaris and Demos Dikoudis - combined for 30 points on 66% shooting from the field, 11 rebounds and two blocks. The former stepped up in the last quarter with two crucial baskets from beyond the arc.

"I'm very disappointed on one side but very proud of us on the other," said Israel's forward Ido Kozikaro, who scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds. "We gave a lot of effort, but we came too short."

Greece left a lot of sweat on court, but they knew it was going to be a tough game. "We knew from the start Israel are a team of fighters and this is what happened," said Tsartsaris after the game.

It took Israel almost three minutes to get its first points on the board, and by then Greece already led 7-0.

Jeron Roberts woke the challengers with five points in a row, and his seventh point was followed by Yotam Halperin's three-pointer to give Israel their first lead of the night.

Greece though answered with four points in a row to take a 19-15 lead after 10 minutes, but Halperin was just getting warmed up.

He added seven points, and together with a great job in the paint by Yaniv Green, helped Israel take a surprising 31-28 lead with a little under a minute left in the half. Tsartsaris though converted a three-point play to send the teams to the locker room tied at 31 a piece.

"Our point was to be very patient. This was the key for the win today," revealed the winning coach Panagiotis Yannakis after the game, and the second half set an example of that mentality.

Greece were two for 11 from long range at the break, but rediscovered their touch in the second half.

Halperin made it 42-40 to the Israeli side with 3:38 to play in the third, but for the next 11 minutes the Greek defense clamped down on their opponents.

On the offensive end, Yannakis' gang hit just about everything from downtown. When the score was tied at 46-46, Dimitrios Diamantidis hit a three-pointer which started a rain of three's by Greece.

"For 30 minutes it was a close game, but in the last quarter we created a gap and kept it until the end," said Tsartsaris, but was very gentle in his analysis.

His team hit five three-pointers - all by different players - out of six attempts in a span of 4:30 minutes, to take a seven-point lead. Tsartsaris followed Diamantidis and saw Diamanthidis Ntikoudis, Theodoros Papaloukas and Vasileios Spanoulis follow on from them.

After Spanoulis broke the "trend" with a two-point shot, Papaloukas hit another long bomb to make it a 66-59 game for Greece.

Israel didn't give up just yet as Halperin converted another three-point play to cut the deficit to four, only for Tsartsaris to hit from long range line once again with 2:28 to play. The shot took whatever spirit Israel had left and seal the game.

Greece will take on Serbia tomorrow in an attempt to clinch a place for the next round, while Israel will face Russia.

Israel

Yotam Halperin: “All in all I think we did a great job, but against Greece you must be concentrated for 40 minutes. Nothing we can do about it. Tomorrow is a new game and we must be ready. I think we gave a big fight against the best team in Europe. We showed character, and too bad it finished this way because it could have been the other way.”

Ido Kozikaro: “I’m very disappointed on one side but very proud of us on the other. We played well against a very strong team. We gave a lot of effort, but we came up too short. We look to the future now. Tomorrow we have a new game, that we must be focused and ready for, play like we did today and hopefully win. I think it was a balanced game against a team that is much stronger than us on paper. All the players deserve good words. Greece is the strongest team in the group. I hope we’ll play like that against Russia tomorrow.”

Coach Zvika Sherf: “Congratulations to the Greek team for the win. We played against a very good team, the champions of Europe, and we tried to fight and make our best. Unfortunately we made some mistakes in the last quarter, and they hit three-point shots. They didn’t give us a chance to come back into the game. I’m not happy that we lost, but satisfied with the way we play. In 20 hours we already have a very good Russian team and we have to organise ourselves mentality, physically and tactically and we hope to win like in every game. I hope this game won’t break our team spirit.”

Jeron Roberts: “As a team we knew it’s going to be a tough fight against the champs. We knew we have to give everything we had and to make as few mistakes as possible. For 33 minutes we were strong in the game, but then we made mistakes that you can’t afford to make against such a team because they make you pay for it. We’ll continue to fight hard and as coach said we have to be ready for the game tomorrow.”

Greece

Coach Panagioits Yannakis: “As we expected the first game is always nervous. I think we expected to play one very smart and strong team, because always in the history we have some problems against Israel. We have a lot of respect for them. Our point was to be very patience. This was the key for the win today. During preparation, most teams have ups and downs. We came from the camp and went to a strong tournament. They always have a quality team and when you don’t concentrate you can lose to them. Tomorrow is a different game. If you want to go far you must have respect for your opponents. We expect a very hard game, but my team in the last three years has always played hard games. “

Konstantinos Tsartsaris: “We knew from the start Israel are a team of fighters and this is what happened. For 30 minutes it was a close game, but in the last quarter we created a gap and kept it until the end. Serbia is very talented. Maybe they lost today but tomorrow the game is going to be different for them. It’s a key game for us for the future of the championship.”

Nikos Zisis: “We usually pick up our rhythm during the championship, so taking this into account the game against Israel was a good start. We don’t care about what happened in the pre-tournament games. Tomorrow is the official game and we’ll try to win it as always.”

Vasillis Spanoulis: “The first game is always the hardest. We knew it wasn't going to be easy so we came out ready to fight for 40 minutes. We had to play with patience in order to win this game and I’m happy we managed to do it. We want to go all the way in this championship, so making it to the next round won’t satisfy us, but we take it one game at a time, and tomorrow we have an important game against Serbia.”

This game features the highest and lowest of this tournament. Greece, being the defending champions, are still standing at the top of EuroBasket, until they are knocked off their pedestal.

Israel, being the last team to qualify, need to work their way up and are considered underdogs in every one of their games.

On paper the facts won't show you a bigger difference between two teams. On court, though, it's a different story.

Greece will play tough and aggressive while Israel will fight till the very last second. Those are things we can be sure of before the game has even tipped off and that in itself makes for a great game.

Last Time Out: In their last two official games, Greece upset the USA in last year's FIBA World Championship semi-final but then were humiliated by a Spain side playing without Pau Gasol in the following day's final. They will carry both memories with them to Granada. Israel, for the second time in a row, qualified for EuroBasket through the last qualification round. Zvika Sherf's side finished this round with a 7-1 record. In the last two deciding games, Israel showed they can win with tough defense and heart - as they did against Bosnia-Herzegovina - or with a great offensive performance, which they did versus Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

Head-to-Head: On their way to the EuroBasket 2005 title Greece had to leap over Israel in the qualifying round with a 67-61 win. Greece was up most of the game, while Israel, as always, fought back and came close, but… not close enough.

		Israel need Halperin to have a big game offensively

Key Match-up: During the long and tortuous journey that has proved to be qualifying for this tournament, Israel's offense was heavily reliant on their backcourt duo of Yotam Halperin and Meir Tapiro. Sherf's team need a big game by at least one or both of these players in order to put a respectable amount of points on the scoreboard. However, that will be no easy task as they go up against a team which boasts the best defensive player in Europe, Dimitrios Diamantidis, with his spider hands and great wingspan. He will relish the challenge of shutting down the Israeli backcourt. If he is successful, then the defending champions will have a much easier time. Should he fail, we can expect another drama.

Statistics: Greece will be without Antonios Fotsis in who misses this championship through injury. Last year, he led the team in both three-point percentage (48%) and baskets made from long range. Greece will try to fill his void somehow and, against Israel, it might be more needed than against any other team. The challengers gives their opponents the chance to beat them from outside. In Israel's eight games in the qualifying round, they allowed other teams to take 25.5 three-point attempts per game on average. If no one can step in to take Fotsis' shots, Greece could be in serious trouble.

X-Factor: Both coaches will draw a lot of attention before and during the game. Yannakis and Sherf are recognized with the basketball of Thessaloniki. The former became the great player he was over there while the latter coached Aris, Paok and Makedonikos and is probably still the most recognized foreigner coach in Greece other than Zeljko Obradovic. Both coaches believe in hard work, team offense and tough defense. Their match-up is as important and as interesting to follow as any ono taking place on the court.

What It Means: In last year's World Championship, Greece played the weakest team in their group – Qatar - on opening night. In the first quarter, the underdogs shockingly jumped to a double-digit lead, catching the Greek lion off guard. Greece recovered and easily won but the unexpected first blow sent a warning: opening night is quite likely the best time for an upset. In this tough group, Israel must make the best of every opportunity they get of winning a game as they might not get another one. They should be encouraged by the fact that, of the last six EuroBasket champs, three of them have lost their opener the year they were defending their crown. Greece can't afford to lose. Not only because the loss would be a heavy one to carry as they play play Russia and Serbia in the following days and complicate the plans, but also for the sake of their image as proud champions coming here with a desire to repeat.