MVP vs. USA: Americans to face Antetokounmpo at World Cup

SHENZHEN, China (AP) — The U.S. men's basketball team figured that it would eventually cross paths with Giannis Antetokounmpo at this World Cup.

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And the Americans were right.

For the first time, a reigning NBA MVP will play against the U.S. on a major international stage. Antetokounmpo and Greece (2-1) will be the opponent when the U.S. (3-0) opens second-round play on Saturday night, in what's essentially a must-win game for the Greeks in their quest to reach next week's quarterfinals.

"Oh, he's going to come out to kill us. There's no question," said U.S. center Brook Lopez, Antetokounmpo's teammate with the Milwaukee Bucks. "He'll try to tear our heads off. I wouldn't expect anything otherwise."


Instead, they get the U.S. in a game that's sure to command major attention.

"For us, we go as far as Giannis goes," Greece's Nick Calathes said. "Not just offensively because offensively he can score, he can pass. But defensively, he's a big impact for us. We'll be ready to go. We're not afraid of anybody. Obviously, USA is the best team in the tournament right now so we'll be prepared and have the right mindset coming in."


There is no mystery about what this event means to Antetokounmpo.

"To represent my country, it's an unbelievable feeling," Antetokounmpo said. "You really cannot explain it. But one thing I'll say is when you play for the national team, you don't only play for yourself. You represent every single Greek person."



"Our opinion has been all along that all these players from overseas that play in the NBA are obviously good players or they wouldn't be there, and Giannis is pretty special as far as good players are concerned," U.S. coach Gregg Popovich said. "But when they play for their countries, we like to say that they become superheroes."



Greece coach Thanasis Skourtopoulos likely won't be cautious with his star's minutes Saturday.

"Giannis is the superstar of the team and everybody knows what he can do," Skourtopoulos said.


Skourtopoulos isn't buying that notion.

"The USA team, of course, even with a lot of stars missed, the roster is great," Skourtopoulos said. "The coaching staff is more than great. It's a very good team and we'll have to be 100 percent ready if we want to go against them and take the victory against this great team."


Brown is eager for Saturday.

"Looking forward to it," Brown said.

Middleton said he hasn't done any chatting with Antetokounmpo since the World Cup started. And he cautioned that focusing too much on Antetokounmpo could be problematic for the Americans.

"He is the MVP, but at the same time they do have other great players on that team," Middleton said. "They have Calathes, they have a couple bigs, couple shooters. So it's not just all about Giannis. He's a smart player who knows how to use his teammates. We can't just focus on him."


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