Follow Papi at the U20 Euro Championships

Texas sophomore forward Ioannis Papapetrou is currently in Tallin, Estonia competing for his native Greece at the Sportland Under-20 European Championship. "Papi" will be documenting the trip and competition and providing fans a behind-the-scenes perspective of the tournament.

Sportland U20 European Championship Men Division A official web site

Sunday, July 14

Today was a day off. We had a chance to sleep in and get some rest that we really needed. We woke up, had breakfast and then went to shootaround that was focused on the Croatia scouting report.

We came back to the hotel to relax and get treatments. I went in the hot tub, because it's a way for me to relax. After I was done with the hot tub, I headed back to my room for a long nap.

I woke up two hours before dinner, and I went for a walk with one of my teammates in the old town of Tallinn. The old town was really nothing special. However, I understand that my standards are high, because I'm from Greece ... and that is the most beautiful place in Europe.

We came back for dinner and film session. The rest of the time we all have been relaxing either in the hallway or in our hotel rooms.

We continue to stay undefeated, but the celebration from yesterday is already over. Starting tomorrow, we play three games in three days and we want to win all of them. I think everyone is focused, and we all have the same goal - which is to win every game. Hopefully in tomorrow's report, we will still be undefeated!

Remember to support Greece and you won't be disappointed.

Saturday, July 13

Today started with an early morning practice at 8:30. We woke up around 8 just to get ready and head to the gym. Without eating breakfast first, I must admit it was kind of tough to focus on the practice that mainly went over the scouting report on Lithuania. Everyone went through it though, mainly because everyone couldn't wait to eat breakfast after!

After breakfast, we had film session and right after we headed to the stadium for the game. The winner would end up first in the group and have the best chance to advance further in the tournament. I think everyone was ready and knew that we needed to play our best.

The game tipped off and we made a quick 10-0 run in the first two minutes. That showed we came to play. We went into halftime up 12 and feeling good about ourselves. At that point, everyone relaxed. For some reason, we thought the game was over. Lithuania came out in the second half and made a quick comeback. Late in the third quarter, they got up by 8. At that point, a time out was called by our coach and we all decided to go all out for the last 12 minutes.

We showed physical and mental strength coming back and beating Lithuania by 3. We remained undefeated and as everyone can imagine, we celebrated that win. Not for a long time, but it was enough.

We went back to the hotel to eat dinner. Later we headed to the market to buy some snacks that are desperately needed in the hotel. We bought all the stuff that coach Todd wouldn't be happy to see me eating ... but as long as we win, candy is allowed!!

Everyone is back in their room now relaxing and getting some rest. Tomorrow, we have a day off and no game. We practice at 11, so we have plenty of time to rest. The atmosphere is great here within our team and everyone is focused. We have to stay humble, because the real tournament starts now. If we want to be called a favorite to win it all, we have to prove it every time on the court!

I'm sending some pictures of my breakfast and my teammates on the bus heading to the game and when we went to the market after the game.

Goodnight here and good afternoon in Austin! Support Greece, Texas nation!! Hook `em Horns.

Papi

Friday, July 12

It's day four here at the U20 European Championship in Tallin, Estonia.

Alarm clock was set for 9 a.m this morning. Everyone was up and ready to go to practice before the game, until our coach announced that there would be no practice today. Instead, we would have a film session. The film session started at 10 and went all the way until 12. Even though we are undefeated, the coaches know we still have room for improvement if we want to compete for a medal.

The game against Georgia was scheduled to start at 3:30 pm, and we didn't come out very focused. I think that was because we won our first two games and Georgia lost its first two. Today's game was an important game though, because with a win we would qualify for the second round before we even played our last game against Lithuania tomorrow (Saturday).

We started the game really slow and with a lack of concentration. We let them take a 12-point lead in the second quarter. We went into halftime trailing by four points. In the second half, we came out and starting from our defense, we started to get easy baskets on the fast break. We started to pull away and the momentum was on our side! The final score: Greece 75, Georgia 61.

We won but it was a tough one. After the game, we had many jokes and a very good atmosphere on the bus going back to the hotel. The dinner was also very relaxing, including food fights and jokes. Now everyone is back in their rooms, relaxing and thinking about tomorrow's game against Lithuania. With a win, we will finish first in our group which will increase our chances of qualifying to the final eight teams!

Time to go to sleep now. Talk to you again tomorrow.

Support Greece and always HOOK' EM HORNS !!!!!

I took some pictures from our rooms and the hallway in the hotel to share with you. Hope to have better pictures tomorrow. It was fun getting by teammates to do the "Hook `em" on some of the pics.

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