It was always going to be a tall task for Greece to meet the requirements for qualification to the FIBA World Cup quarter finals in their matchup with the Czech Republic on Monday in Shenzhen, and ultimately their valiant effort proved not to be enough.
Having already logged losses to the USA and Brazil in the tournament, Greece’s qualification hinged on them beating the Czechs by a margin of 12 points or more, and the Americans also beating Brazil in the later start in Shenzhen.
In the end, the latter half of that equation will have no real bearing on Greece as an 84-77 win over the Czech Republic saw Thanasis Skourtopoulos’ team come up short.