by a score of 98–78. 1998–2001: Leader of the national team Eager to confirm they were a part of the world basketball elite, Greece aimed at reaching the semifinals in the 1998 FIBA World Championship, in Athens. Head Coach Panagiotis Giannakis was confident that the Greek team would fulfill its mission, and he put Alvertis, alongside his Panathinaikos teammate Nikos Oikonomou, in charge of the team's offense. Alvertis averaged 13.2 points and a surprisingly high 6.2 rebounds per game, being a major contributor to Greece's fourth-place finish at the tournament. He most notably scored the three-pointer that sealed the fate of the quarterfinals match against Spain, giving Greece a 65–58 advantage with 53 seconds left in the game. His leading role in the team had become indisputable, especially since the great Greek player Panagiotis Fasoulas had retired from the national team after the end of the tournament. At the EuroBasket 1999, Alvertis seemed ready to lead Greece to its first medal since 1989. After leading the team in offense, with an average of 18.1 points per game in the qualifying round, everything seemed to indicate a great upcoming EuroBasket for the Greek star. Nevertheless, misfortune is part of the game of basketball. A few days before the tournament, Alvertis suffered a severe injury during practice. That injury caused him to not only miss the EuroBasket tournament, but also a major part of the 1999–00 club season. Without its offensive leader, and without key players Nikos Oikonomou and Efthimios Rentzias, who were also injured, Greece finished in an embarrassing sixteenth and last place at the tournament. They consequently failed to qualify for the 2000 Summer Olympics, and were doomed to two years of exclusion from every major tournament. Greece had to wait for the EuroBasket 2001 in order to make its comeback on the international scene. The team was obviously in the middle of a transition period, during which its young stars Theo Papaloukas, Antonis Fotsis, and Lazaros Papadopoulos were unable to build a highly competitive team right away. Alvertis, coming off a great club year with Panathinaikos, and Giorgos Sigalas, had to show to the younger generation of Greek players the road to success. The first game against reigning champion Italy proved that Alvertis was ready to fulfill his role as a leader. His buzzer-beating three pointer gave Greece a very impressive 83–82 win. The team, however, had not reached