Rick Pitino spoke to SPORT24 and Vasilis Skounidis, commenting on the national team’s emergence and prospects and mentioning Spanoulis, Antetokounmpo, Papagiannis, Calathes and Sloukas.
How brutal life can be sometimes… Facebook opens this morning (8/7), yesterday (7/7) the three-year anniversary of Rick Pitino’s revealing, deeply emotional, confessional and profound interview after the national team’s resounding elimination from the World Cup and the Tokyo Olympics.
I saw it and felt it… psychology, as the pardoned Grigoris Pethikotzis once said: psychology of conflict of emotions because on July 7, 2021 we were crying from our grief and anger at the “captivity” from the Czech Republic and now we are crying again, but this time from the joy and emotion of the praiseworthy qualification.
0-0 at the Maracana
«We all cry“As the late Costas Kyriazis said on the evening of April 28, 1974, when the national football team drew 0-0 with (world champion) Brazil at the Maracana…
This is a nice and relevant story that I tend to write before I move on to a fresh basketball game…
That evening, Kyriazis, the only Greek journalist who accompanied the mission to Rio de Janeiro, managed to get in touch with the offices of Sports Echo.
It was almost dawn in Athens, the newspaper would normally be at the printing press by then and its (also blessed) editor-in-chief, Stamatis Gratisas, was waiting impatiently by the phone…
“We’re all crying, stop”
When the blessed phone rang, he immediately picked it up and asked eagerly:How far have we come, Costas?” But Kyriazis, who rejoiced at the success, instead of relating the result, preferred to give an emotional tone to the case, answering,We’re all crying, Stamatis, we’re all crying.»!
«How far have we come, Costas, we are in danger of not publishing a newspaper!” Gracias was playing but Kyriazis on his violin…
«We’re all crying, Stamatis.»!
Kyriazis revealed the result with a lot of (pleading and…pleading), but his statement remains classic and timeless enough to fit any such situation!
Pitino is back anyway
Just kidding, with everything that happened in the previous days and especially yesterday after the end of the final, even Pitino, who anyway put himself (and always puts himself) at the disposal of his national team…
In our interview three years ago he said:I’ll be back if you want me to.» And he kept his promise.
After the Latin practice of “Bread and Circus(Bread and Scene), shortly before arriving in the Greek islands for his summer vacation, the legendary American coach appeared on Saturday and Sunday at the SEF and sat at the first table on the track, next to the President of the European Economic Community, Vangelis. Julius celebrated with his speech and even with all his soul the victory of the national team.
Have you written about the national team?
My mistake, and I will correct it immediately: “From our national team,” is the correct one, since Rick, although he has pampered this team for a few days, has become so attached to it that he is justified in using the plural pronoun…
Our national team!
Papajani’s undressing And… Steph Curry is tall!
Or the other?
Giorgos Papagiannis saw him face down in front of him and went wild in every way, to find an additional source of inspiration and make the most of it…
I don’t know if you read Pitino’s mind or Rick read mine, but we agreed on our exaggeration regarding… the sexual desire of “PG” as the big center calls it for short…
I asked Papagiannis last night if he felt… Steph Curry in a giant package and this morning when I opened this conversation with Pitino, I was pleasantly surprised to hear him liken the Monaco international center to a Warriors star!
amazing!
– Well coach, you’ve been seen before.bigBaba“And he got inspired, he admits it himself…
“Come on! And especially, in the first half, he shot three-pointers like he was Steph Curry! For a midfielder, a player with a son, to score 5/8 three-pointers in a tournament final is incredible and yet great. With this escalation, Giorgos kept the national team upright in the difficult moments of the match.”
Worship of Calathes
-Is your other favourite player Calathes? When you came to Greece and took over as coach of Panathinaikos, after the match with Efes you shocked us by putting him in the same sentence. With Maurice Cheeks, Isaiah Thomas, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson they say he’s the best passer I’ve ever seen.
«“I love Nick a lot, you all know that and he knows it. I love his game and I think he’s one of the best keepers. His advantage is that he can play well on both ends of the court because he has the talent to defend very well, to create with assists, to execute, to read, to manage all situations. I was very happy to see him play with such enthusiasm and lead the team safely.”
I liked Spanolis.
-Unfortunately, she was unable to train Vasilis Spanoulis, whom she described as “”legend“, in the 2021 Olympics preliminary tournament, but now you see him leading the national team from the bench. What did your expert eye see in him?
«But it’s a myth, who can deny that? I saw desire, passion, a lot of great ideas in training, the right approach and the right adaptation to the conditions of the matches. I’m not saying this to flatter him and give him courage, which he has, but I really liked the way he worked. It was clear that he prepared the team in an excellent way and in a short period of time, while “playing” himself in the matches. I mean against Slovenia and Croatia he showed an amazing defensive strategy which of course paid off, and I really liked his changes.».
Adapt John
– Giannis Antetokounmpo? You didn’t coach him in the NBA either, he was competing in the NBA Finals in those days, but in the pre-Olympic tournament we saw him play differently than he did with the Bucks. I mean he seemed more adapted to the European style and team structure.
«I agree with you and this fact proves his greatness. Really. Oh Giannis has adapted very well to Spanoulis’ offensive plans and the national team’s formation. However, it is he who will ultimately make the difference and give the team momentum. Giannis is unstoppable when he gets the ball to him. attachedWhatever he decides to do, besides he can kill any team in the world in sudden situations.».
Medal and Slokas
– We Greeks, as you realized from the first moment, get excited and disappointed very easily and very quickly. But do you think this team has a chance to win a medal at the Olympics?
«I hope so, but I also believe in him, and I hope it happens, even though he doesn’t have the all-round talent that some of the other teams have. Another thing to add: As you know, I have a soft spot for Kostas Sloukas and I would love to see him at the Olympics, especially after his terrible performance in the final. Europa League And for Game 5 of them Qualifiers From the Greek Championship.
His talent, level of experience, passing ability and ability to shoot from the wings will make the national team better, but I completely respect his desire and especially his need to overcome his injury and rest.
More Stories
“Kostas Manolas has been offered to PAOK!”
Lance: Sold out, OAKA packed for rematch
UEFA Champions League Qualifiers: Exciting Qualifiers – Football – UEFA Champions League