In basketball scoreboards news, we look at the achievements of the incredible Nick Galis.

Nick Galis was a legend. He made European basketball incredibly exciting for more than a decade, and helped Greek athletes break out onto the international arena at the highest level.

He was born in the US to Greek immigrants, and he helped his home country of Greece to redefine its image. In 1987 the basketball scoreboards showed that the Greek national team won the European Championship, and his exciting and incredibly effective style of play was the principal reason that they achieved this success. When he had the ball in his hands, it seemed like the ball was destined for the basket, and if it did not make it, it felt like a fluke. Galis was just 6 feet tall, yet he was a great jumper and had fantastic balance whilst hanging in the air.

Some people think that he was a cross between Bird and Magic. He retired in 1995, but he inspired a whole new generation of Greeks to develop their game to the highest level. As a result, ten years later the Greek team won gold at the Euros once more. In 2006, they beat the USA dream team (containing LeBron, Wade and Anthony), with the basketball scoreboards showing 101-95, and took silver in the World Championship.

Back to Galis himself. His greatest moment was during the 1987 European Championship in Greece. He was the instigator in bringing the gold medal to his home country, and he earned the crown of MVP for the tournament. He was the leading scorer, and shot for 40 points in the final victory against the USSR. The Soviet star Belov heaped praise on Galis after the game. “There is no way to stop him, I never thought that it would be possible that one player could beat the entire Soviet Union”. The Soviet coach called Galis the “greatest player of the 21st century.”

His fellow players were often left confounded by his amazing ability to get the ball into the basket. If he wanted to score, he seemed to be able to do it know matter who he was playing against. Opposition coaches did everything they could to stop him, but no one could find a foolproof strategy. The former Nashua Den Bosh coach suggested the only way to do this was to lock him in the changing room before the game. The trainer of Lech Poznan said that they would work out how to stop the other four players on the team, but for Galis they would just pray and hope for God’s help. One of the biggest basketball stars outside the US, he surely remains the greatest European ever.

For more information, go to:
en.wikipedia.org