From August 27 to September 16, 2025, we analyzed more than 138,000<\/strong> posts and comments on social media<\/strong> (X, Facebook, forums) regarding the participation of Greece men’s national basketball team in EuroBasket 2025, based exclusively on data from the Brandwatch platform, a global leader in social listening.<\/p>\n

Objective: To understand how the team’s journey was reflected on social media, what the dominant sentiment was, and how the discussion transcended the boundaries of sports, touching on politics, national identity, and the overall image of Greek basketball. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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Top<\/strong> Buzz<\/strong> Peaks<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Comments and posts on social media recorded a huge increase on September 7<\/strong>\u00a0(VS Israel), on September <\/strong>12<\/strong>\u00a0(VS Turkey), and on September <\/strong>14<\/strong>\u00a0(VS Finland):<\/p>\n

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September 7 (<\/strong>VS<\/strong> Israel):<\/strong> Greece advanced to the quarter-finals after a thrilling victory with a score of 84-79<\/strong>, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/strong> (37 points). The match generated huge buzz on social media as it combined athletic excellence and political tension. On social networks, expressions of national pride dominated on one hand, while politically charged hashtags (#freepalestine) were prominent on the other, linked to the developments in Gaza. A significant part of the discussion focused on the demand of Greek opposition political party SYRIZA to cancel the match. Despite the political tension, the victory became a point of unity and joy for the fans.<\/p>\n

Indicative X posts with a significant number of RTs<\/strong>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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September <\/strong>12 (<\/strong>VS<\/strong> Turkey):<\/strong> Greece lost with a score of 68-94<\/strong> in the semi-final, in a match where they made 22 mistakes<\/strong> and never found their rhythm. The Turks, with Osman<\/strong> and Sengun <\/strong>as key players, completely dominated. There was widespread disappointment and intense criticism on Greek social media regarding the team’s and the coach’s choices, but also supportive comments.<\/p>\n

Indicative X posts with a significant number of RTs<\/strong>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Sengun’s post on social media after the game sparked reactions on Greek social media, as it seemed to reference the 1922 Asia Minor developments. The Turkish Federation<\/strong> also caused strong reactions with a post showing a Turkish player dunking in front of Antetokounmpo with the caption “No mercy.” This image led to an official complaint from the Hellenic Basketball Federation<\/strong> to FIBA and was eventually withdrawn. The tension on social media was twofold: sporting (criticism of the team) and political, intensifying the atmosphere of confrontation between Greece and Turkey.<\/p>\n

Indicative X posts with a significant number of RTs<\/strong>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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September <\/strong>14 (<\/strong>VS<\/strong> Finland):<\/strong> Greece won the bronze medal<\/strong> after 16 years<\/strong>, beating their opponent 92-89<\/strong>, with the last 5 minutes causing a stir on social media. The match was characterized by passion and teamwork, with Greece showing character and regaining their spirit after the loss in the semi-final. Emotional moments were recorded and commented on social media: Antetokounmpo<\/strong>, with the Greek flag on his back, was in tears, stating that “this is the greatest achievement of his career,” and team captain Kostas Papanikolaou<\/strong> expressed emotion and commitment for the future of the team. The discussion focused on the meaning of returning to the podium, national pride, and the new era that is opening up for Greek basketball.<\/p>\n

Indicative X posts with a significant number of RTs<\/strong>:<\/strong> <\/a> \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

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Sentiment<\/strong> Analysis<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Sentiment analysis on social media shows a mainly positive image<\/strong>. The progress of Greece men’s national basketball team created emotional identification, with the positive tone prevailing in discussions about winning the medal.<\/p>\n

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• 54,64% positive<\/strong> (celebrations, national pride, exaltation of players and the coach)<\/li>\n
• 35,97% neutral<\/strong> (descriptive posts, journalistic reports)<\/li>\n
• 9,39% negative<\/strong> (criticism for the defeat against Turkey, political reactions to the match with Israel).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

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  Sources<\/strong> Benchmarking<\/strong><\/h3>\n

  From September 7 (match against Israel) onwards, X <\/strong>took off with almost 100k mentions (+557% compared to the corresponding previous period). Public comments on Facebook <\/strong>saw a more moderate increase (+34%). Forums <\/strong>had a limited presence, but also saw a significant increase (+62%), showing that qualifying for the quarter-finals and the subsequent matches generated intense activity across all channels examined.<\/p>\n

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  Notable peaks for Facebook and forums<\/strong>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

  On Facebook<\/strong>, hundreds of public comments were gathered in the following posts, among others:<\/p>\n

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  Related comments in forums <\/strong>recorded an increase on September 13 in threads <\/strong>with titles:<\/p>\n

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  • “The thread of the official favourite – National basketball team” (on insomnia.gr)<\/li>\n
  • “Eurobasket 2025 and the end of an era” (on adslgr.com))<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

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    Countries & Key Players<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    Greece accounted for 72.4% <\/strong>of the total discussion, while the countries most frequently mentioned by Greek users on social media were Turkey (9.54%) <\/strong>and Israel (4.94%)<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

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    This shows that the discussion was strongly national in nature, but at the same time, specific countries were key points of reference as the discussions expanded to political issues.<\/p>\n

    Giannis Antetokounmpo <\/strong>was at the center of the discussion with 57% <\/strong>of mentions, as the undisputed leader on the court. He was followed by coach Vassilis Spanoulis <\/strong>(21.9%), Kostas Sloukas <\/strong>(11.2%), and team captain Kostas Papanikolaou <\/strong>(9.8%):<\/p>\n

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    The Greek Freak’s <\/strong>leadership, both on the court (37 points against Israel, decisive moments in the bronze medal match) and symbolically (statements about the medal as \u2018the greatest achievement of his life\u2019), strengthened the team’s image and gave a new dimension to the discussion about identity and national pride. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

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    Hashtags<\/strong>, <\/strong>Phrases<\/strong> & <\/strong>Emojis<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    The topics cloud <\/strong>highlights how the discussion combines sports, national identity and politics:<\/p>\n

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    • Dominant hashtags<\/strong>: #eurobasket, #eurobasket2025, #grefin, #gretur, #greisr<\/li>\n
    • Phrases<\/strong>: “bronze medal”, “Greek national team”, “Congratulations”<\/li>\n
    • Emojis<\/strong>: \ud83c\udfc0\ud83d\udc4f\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\uddf7\u2764\ufe0f, expressing enthusiasm and national pride<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      At the same time, the discussion about the match against Israel was linked to hashtags such as #freepalestine<\/strong>, showing how political dynamics have penetrated the sporting dialogue. \u00a0<\/strong> \u00a0<\/p>\n

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      Why Social Listening is Valuable<\/strong><\/h3>\n

      The analysis of Greece’s participation in EuroBasket 2025 clearly highlights the power of\u00a0social<\/strong> listening<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n

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      • Identification of discussion peaks <\/strong>related to matches, results and critical events.<\/li>\n
      • Understanding the sentiment <\/strong>and how social media users experience the Greek national team’s progress.<\/li>\n
      • Highlighting the political and social dimensions <\/strong>that influence the image of a sporting event.<\/li>\n
      • Mapping key players <\/strong>and how they reinforce or influence public discourse.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        For communications, marketing and PR professionals, the ability to monitor social media conversations in real time offers a strategic advantage<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

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        • Enhancing positive publicity.<\/li>\n
        • Preparing for crises.<\/li>\n
        • Leveraging insights to improve products or services, content marketing, sponsorships and partnerships.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          Try out the possibilities of social listening <\/strong>for your own industry, utilizing real-time data. Identify critical trends, valuable insights and opportunities that will give you a competitive edge. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

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          Analysis Identity<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

          Social Listening Tool<\/strong>: Brandwatch<\/a><\/strong>
          Date Range<\/strong>: 27\/08\/25 – 16\/09\/25
          Sources<\/strong>: Social Media*
          Keywording\/Analysis<\/strong>: Clip News<\/p>\n

          *The analysis is based solely on publicly available data from social media channels in Greece. The search was limited to the keywords \u201cEurobasket\u201d and \u201cNational Basketball Team\u201d in all possible variations (English, Greek, Greeklish, with or without accents, etc.) and to the hashtags of our National Team\u2019s games (e.g., #grefin, #gretur, #greisr). \u00a0<\/p>\n

          Search Limitations<\/span><\/strong>: The Brandwatch platform collects data from websites, blogs, forums, social media (X, Facebook, Reddit, Tumblr, etc.) with the restrictions defined by each channel. For example, discussions in closed forums and Facebook private groups, or Instagram Stories, are not collected. The above analysis provides an indicative approach, taking into account that varying sources and date range may produce different insights<\/span><\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          From August 27 to September 16, 2025, we analyzed more than 138,000 posts and comments on social media (X, Facebook, forums) regarding the participation of Greece men’s national basketball team in EuroBasket 2025, based exclusively on data from the Brandwatch platform, a global leader in social listening. Objective: To understand how the team’s journey was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48547,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[517,55,514,516,515,130,136],"class_list":["post-48632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-case-studies-en","tag-antetokounmpo","tag-brandwatch-en","tag-eurobasket","tag-greek-freak","tag-national-basketball-team","tag-social-listening-en","tag-social-media-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"