Greece celebrates stunning upset

Top sports official says team ‘made Americans kneel to them’

Thanassis Stavrakis / AP

Fans wave Greek flags in the Omonia Square in Athens on Friday. Thousands of Greeks ran out of their officers and onto the streets in the Greek capital and other cities to celebrate Friday's 101-95 victory over the United States.

Slideshow

Dancers from around the league
Check out some of the dancers from the NBA.

more photos

Rotoworld.com

Dwyane Wade carries Heat w/ 41 points

Gilbert Arenas (calf) starts on Tue after all

Eric Gordon (groin) out at least 10 days

Spurs' Duncan, Parker doubtful for Wednesday

Joakim Noah grabs 21 rebounds in Bulls' win

Video: NBA from NBC Sports

Scary time for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Nov. 10: Just a few years after a good friend passed away from leukemia, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was scared when he received his cancer diagnosis.

Bad blow for Griffin, Clippers

KG's excited to be back

NBA's in a good place

Lebron: Braylon 'childish'

Playing in London

Shaq: 'We all stick together'

Ask the NBA expert: Ira Winderman

Do you have a burning question about your favorite team or player? Submit it now, and then check back for our reader mailbag on the 1st and 15th of each month.

E-mail your questions

msnbc.com news services

updated 9:52 a.m. ET Sept. 1, 2006

ATHENS - Thousands of Greeks gathered in the streets, waved flags and honked car horns to celebrate Friday’s 101-95 upset victory over the United States at the world basketball championships in Japan.

“This is the biggest thing we’ve ever done,” former Greek star Panayiotis Fasoulas said. “The Americans are the most talented players but we have a better team. Right now we’re the best in the world. ... Beating the U.S. is more important than the final.”

“Nobody could believe this. The Greek team made the Americans kneel to them,” Sports Minister George Orfanos told state NET television.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis cut short scheduled meetings to watch the end of the game and expressed gratitude to the Greek team.

“I wonder if a ’thank you’ is enough, but I feel the need to say it twice over to (coach) Panagiotis Yannakis and his guys,” Karamanlis said in a statement.

FIBA Americas Championships
Aug. 22-Sept. 2 in Las Vegas
LeBron, U.S. crush Argentina to win gold
Team USA could make changes before Beijing
Opinion: Good start, now, the hard part
Opinion: Anthony has been USA's best
Special feature: USA's Hardwood Heroes
FIBA Americas results, schedule | USA roster
Discuss: Sound off on Team USA
Chanting “Lift the Cup,” fans waved Greece’s blue-and-white flags, blared car horns as midday parties sprang up in Athens and Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city.

Traffic information screens flashed the final score, as motorists abandoned their cars to join celebrating crowds. Teenagers set off firecrackers and waved flags on mo-peds as they headed to the center of Athens.

The Greek team — with no current NBA players on its roster — can add a world title to the European championship it won in 2005 with a victory over either Spain or Argentina in Sunday’s gold medal game.