The Giants have received their answer from Greece: thanks, but no thanks.

They’ll have to move on without Michael Strahan, who politely declined a return to the team while on vacation overseas, and the player he ostensibly would have replaced, Osi Umenyiora.

This is routinely what championship teams face the following season. Injury followed by heartache, compounded by disappointment. With a dollop of rejection for good measure.

But these also are the kinds of things that made the Giants champions in the first place.

We’re talking about a team that had little or no hope of winning a title before last Dec. 29. And even after that night — a three-point loss to the Patriots in the regular-season finale — it’s hard to find a lot of solace in a team blowing an 11-point lead at home.

Not in terms of Super Bowl thought, anyway.

With the Giants, many took their first-round road win over the Buccaneers in Tampa at the time as a major stride. After all, they had lost three straight playoff games — all in heartbreaking fashion — since their blowout loss at the hands of the Ravens back in Super Bowl XXXV.

The Giants won the whole shebang last season, in part, because they had been on the bottom so many times and just found a way to endure. They didn’t let the first 80 percent of their season dictate what happened in the final 20.

It was the best coaching of Tom Coughlin’s career, a darned good coach I’ll add, and the best playing from a moderately but not overly talented team. Simply put, they handled all the bad news far better than most teams handle the good stuff. And that includes the team they beat, the 18-0 Patriots, who played a bit as if they had something to lose.

Now, the Giants must turn disappointment on its ear again. They are short on defense, no question. And defense was what sparked and fueled the team’s four-game playoff run. They blitzed and attacked when needed, covered and baited opponents when it was called for. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo hardly made a bad call along the way. He was brilliant, even more so than Coughlin.

It can happen again. It really can.

Mathias Kiwanuka can play. He might not be this or that, but he can make plays. He was hardly perfect as a rookie, known best for a couple of really poorly timed mistakes, but you could chalk that up to him being a rookie. We saw enough that season to know that Ernie Accorsi made a shrewd move getting this kid where he did, at the end of the first round, where elite pass rushers are long gone 99 times out of 100.

Kiwanuka now will play most of his snaps at defensive end, his old full-time home, where he likely would have played 30 or 40 percent of his snaps before the Umenyiora injury, anyway. This is not a panic move. Kiwanuka has great versatility, and Spagnuolo won’t hesitate to drop him into coverage or use packages where Kiwanuka stands up before the snap.

By now, everyone knows and has seen what Justin Tuck can do. He was the underrated star of the Super Bowl, with two first-half sacks, and he had more sacks (10) than Strahan did (nine). Tuck should have been a Pro Bowler. I had more than one talent evaluator tell me that. Now, he’ll be asked to do just a little more in terms of volume. He’ll play an additional 10-12 snaps per game. It’s nothing drastic.

You’ve probably seen his name a few times this week, but Dave Tollefson is still an unknown, relatively speaking. Stow that name away, at least until next Thursday. Tollefson had been getting praise from coaches and teammates before Umenyiora’s injury, which is a good thing. He has shown up in all three preseason games, and although he’s not a sack threat, he can play the run — something Strahan did better than almost any left end in recent history — and will not be embarrassed out there.

There’s also Renaldo Wynn. A serviceable veteran who can move inside if needed. Sexy? Heck no, but the guy is no throwaway either.

Tom Coughlin checks on Osi Umenyiora after the star defensive end injured his knee against the Jets

All this is going to do is test every guy just a little bit more.

The D-line won’t create as much havoc in the passing game, so the defensive backs have to be better. They likely are starting a rookie (Kenny Phillips) at free safety, so that means everyone else has to step up.

The linebackers are shaken up not only from Kiwanuka’s absence but because Super Bowl starter Kawika Mitchell is gone. The weak side has been a weak link, but we now will find out if Gerris Wilkinson can handle the job. Danny Clark is the starter on the strong side for now, and he’s fine, but keep an eye on Bryan Kehl. Perhaps in part because of Coughlin’s reluctance to start two rookies on defense, Kehl might have to wait his turn a bit, but expect to see him step in for either Wilkinson or Clark, whichever one does the least.

There are options here. Not as many as last season, but there’s something to work with. This is why you draft for talent, not need. You never know where your need is going to be. GM Jerry Reese gets that. Coughlin, too. Accorsi got it. You would have fooled all of them had you said in April that defensive end would be a concern heading into the season.

Luckily, these men helped choose the best players, regardless of position, when they put this team together. It’s one of the big reasons they’ll be fine despite this unfortunate situation.

You don’t win championships by avoiding strife or bad luck. You win them by learning how to deal with it. The Giants excel in that area. And they should make the best of this tough blow.