The Greek coach lost his cool as his team was being out-rebounded by the United States in the FIBA World Cup.
Going against Team USA is the biggest challenge in international basketball — even when the Americans send a young roster without veteran All-NBA talent. Greece learned that lesson the hard way on Monday in the second game of group play at the 2023 FIBA men’s World Cup.
The U.S. beat Greece, 109-81, in a game that saw the team hammer their way to the foul line, dominate the glass, and unselfishly share the ball at every opportunity. Slowing down Team USA is a perplexing task for any coach, and it pushed Greek coach Dimitris Itoudis during a timeout early in the game. With coaches mic’d up in the tournament, Itoudis delivered an expletive-filled soundbite directed at one of his players who let a couple rebounds slip away. Watch the clip here:
It’s incredible to be getting this kind of access during the World Cup. When NBA coaches are mic’d up, the clips the public gets to see are often heavily edited and boiled down to cliches. FIBA is giving viewers a live stream into the minds of coaches throughout this tournament, and it gave us this gem.
This shortened clip has major meme potential:
It’s hard to blame Itoudis for being upset after watching his Greek team get out-rebounded 40-25 in the game. No one ever said facing Team USA was going to be easy.
The U.S. has already punched their ticket to the next group stage even before they face Jordan on Wednesday. The Americans are rolling so far, but the competition is about to get a lot tougher. For now, Team USA can enjoy raising the blood pressure of every coach they’ve faced.
