The head of the EuroLeague and “legend” of European basketball, on the sidelines of the press conference, spoke to Gazzetta and characterized this year’s event as very ambiguous, while declaring that he was proud of his 3 participations and the same number of Europeans. Trophies won by him.
No matter how many years pass, he remains inextricably linked with Greek basketball. Why did he lead him? Panathinayakas In winning 2nd and 3rd European titles Thessaloniki And Bologna respectively, winning a total of three trophies and two awards MVP (The last trophy and associated statue was in 2003 Barcelona)
But because he is one of the main people responsible for her constant failures Our national team from Yugoslavia We played against each other in all international tournaments from 1995 to 2005 when he retired from his country’s representative team.
The reason is its president for the past two years Euroleague, Tejan Podirokawho spoke at magazine At the end of the press conference, emphasizing the personalities and the thirst for the prestigious trophy, which usually defines the European champion.
This is strange, but is this the first time in F4 history that we haven’t heard the president speak on stage?
«No, this is not the first time, the same thing happened last year. But I’m fine, I want to congratulate all four teams who have achieved the goal of getting to F4, and these are the protagonists, the coaches, the captains and the players, they should talk, they’ll talk on the floor.»
It’s a different presidential philosophy and mindset. Say, it’s been a long time since you’ve been on the court, but every time F4 comes around, of course you look back at those times when you played with Panathinaikos and Barcelona and won. How do you remember those moments?
«Those are great memories! All players come to F4 and want to win. Made it three times with two different teams in three Final 4s! I am very proud of it. They are great memories and always very special.»
How do you see this F4? They say it’s one of the best in history with the narrowest margin between four teams?
«All four of these teams are coming off great regular seasons and great playoffs. It’s an open F4 with four very competitive teams and we expect some good matches and we’ll see who is the best team.»