Zeljko Obradovic was the first member of Panathinaikos to talk to Live Press Room. The new “window” for the fans to communicate with the members of the basketball team of Panathinaikos directly, sending their questions. Obradovic revealed moments he had cried about a basketball game, he talked the presence in the team of all three Diamantidis, Spanoulis and Jasikevicius, for the big guys of the team, Nicholas and how he is adjusting, what he expects of his players and also his ambitions, clarifying: “The titles we have conquered so far are important. But they belong to the past. We have to live for the future. We work to be first”.
- Have you ever cried after a game and when?
“Yes… I was still a player and we were playing in the semifinal of the final four of the Yugoslavian cup, against IMT. Sakota was the coach of that team. We lost, I felt really bad and I cried about that. As a coach I cried after the semifinal of Eurobasket 1999 in France. It was a game against Italy; A tough game. We fell behind by 15 points and then we started playing well, but at the end we couldn’t make it, we were unlucky. For a guy of the National Team, this was a tough loss and I cried at the end. Sometimes emotions must come out”.
- Before each game you greet all your players and everybody on the bench. Why?
“It’s something that simply states the obvious; that we are a team. We are all together in it. It’s something I do since my first day in the team. It’s what we feel and it’s important to go on feeling like this: That every single guy in the team is important. That why I do it. Everybody contributes!”
- You go, hug and talk all your players after big wins, or titles. Whattheymeanforyou?
“It’s something normal! We work very hard to get to the wins to the titles and there we live the best moment for each and every one of us. Till now we have played in 19 finals and we have 16 titles. Every title is special. We have to stay together. Every time I feel the need to say “thank you” to my players. Not for the win, or the title, but for the job they have done the whole year”.
- Some fans worry about you: If you have spear time with all this work and what you like to do, whether you like to watch movies, or to read books.
“I watch movies, but mostly at home and I definitely read books, especially during our many trips through the year. It’s a good company. But mostly whenever I have some free time I like to spend it with people I love and my family. It’s the best option for me, something that it’s very important in everybody’s life”.
- You have conquered everything. Where do your ambitions stop?
“A lot of us in Panathinaikos have conquered titles. Not only me… Players too. Everybody, not only in Greece, but also to Europe know what Panathinaikos has conquered, but this is something that belongs to the past. We have to look to the future. First of all for the fans. We want to make them happy. We want to see more and more fans coming to every game. It’s something that really makes me proud. Because in every game last year in Euroleague OAKA was almost full. It’s wonderful that so many people came to see our first game in Euroleague this year against Zalgiris Kaunas. It was the first positive point for me. We all work in this team for a reason. I have said if before. I work to be first. Not second. My mind is set on this goal. To try to be first, to try to make everything that is possible to achieve this goal. And since I know my players and their limits I want to push them if it’s possible to give not 100%, but 120% if it’s possible. It’s logical to make mistakes. Everybody make mistakes and I usually start the critic from myself. If something goes wrong like at the game against Barcelona for example, the first thing that I think is what did I do wrong and then I search what other may have done wrong. We make a big analysis of what we did, in order to understand what went wrong and not to see it happen again. We must only think about one thing: The past is there, we have accomplished many things, but the one thing that we must be interested in is the future and what we are going to do from now on”.
- Against Barcelona on the bench it was impossible to hide the fact that you were furious. Against Nancy a game that also some thing didn’t work well for the team your reactions were different. Whythisdifference?
“It’s simple. The way we played against Barcelona has nothing to do with the way we played against Nancy. Our reaction as a team, as players was completely different. In France we didn’t played in the best possible way, but we have said that we have to do some things and we did them. We have said that we must take care of their offensive rebounds and we did it. We had the possibility to go to fast breaks, we created many times the opportunity for open shots, but we didn’t make the baskets. It’s something that can happen. It’s something different. The team fought from the first minute to the last. As long as we do this we will not have a problem in our game. That’s why I was calm in Nancy. I am satisfied with my team, my players. But if talk basketball I can point out a lot of mistakes; and not in these two games, but the one against Zalgiris Kaunas, a game that we won with big difference”.
- Do you worry about Drew Nicholas and his adjustment to the team, or the fact that we don’t see Nicholas that we used to know let’s say from Efes Pilsen?
“It’s something that every player that comes to Panathinaikos, understands very well: That coming in this team some things will have to change. Last year the player that played the most was Spanoulis and he had something like 24 minutes per game. That’s it! The season is big and everybody will play. I want to see all my players through the years and to be ready at the beginning of the play offs and the important games in Euroleague. I want my players to be fresh at that time. If in an important game I judge that a player must play 35 or 40 minutes, I will do it. It’s something that the game itself says to you. It’s something that certainly doesn’t happen often. For example against Nancy Diamantidis played for 32 minutes. To go back to Drew I have to say that he is a very serious person and a very serious player. It’s not normal that he missed some shots, but it’s not a problem also, because most of them were open shots. I talk with him, in order to give him confidence, like I do with a lot of my players. It’s something I say to all my players. If the shot is good, take it! It was a situation that we had to face in Nancy too many times. It happened with Nicholas, it happened with Perperoglou who had 0/6, something that is also not normal. I will have to say again what I said after the game. We missed some shots. In every practice my players stay and make 100-200 shots each, most of them. In some games the ball just doesn’t want to go in if I can say it like this. I cannot explain it. Anyway, I believe that Drew has the quality to help us much more and it is something that nobody can question”.
- Do you believe that the fact that he has to change the way he was used to play affects him?
“It’s not easy for him. It’s his first year in Panathinaikos. I don’t worry, because he is a player that understands basketball very well. So I believe that he can help us a lot”.
- Will Spanoulis’ return makes the team faster and how important is his return?
“Since the first practice I say the same thing: That I want the team to play faster. We have the quality and the players to do it. This must be our game. With or without Spanoulis, or any other player. Definitely Billy is one of the most important players in our team, but I am not the coach that is going to cry over the player he doesn’t have. With the exception of the game against Barcelona, we played seriously so far. Only that game was a disaster. To play faster is not up to only one player. All five players that are on the floor must help, all 12 players that are currently on the roster must be ready. Of course, if we want to play faster the point guards are important. Every time I have the possibility I try to talk to Diamantidis, to Sarunas, to Verginis and of course to Billy. Something I can say about Billy is that it’s in his blood, he loves basketball. And that’s good. The same goes for DIamantidis. Mitsos is a players who understands, who gives too many things to the team, but if he starts playing faster it will be excellent for him and the team. We have talker about this, he understands it as he understands always, everything we say”.
- How can three players like Spanoulis, Jasikevicius and Diamantidis, can co-exist in the team?
“First of all, all three of them are excellent as persons. They don’t have and there aren’t problems. They are excellent professionals. One of the most important elements and facts of our team is that we have these three players in our roster. They are different characters and different players, but the fact that all three of them play in our team, it’s good for our team! Eveybody will have the chance to play. Last year I will say it again, Billy was the player that played the most, but with just 24 minutes, Diamantidis was about 22, Saras something like 19, Batiste almost the same… It’s not important how much time each player will spend on the court, but how aggressive he is in both defence and offence, what he does for the team. It would be better to play less, but to give everything for the team at this time. This is only way that Panathinaikos must play”.
- Do you see a change in the balance of the team with the addition of Pekovic and Fotsis?
“We had big quality also last year. This year with Mike present as always and Pekovic on his side we have more solutions. Nikola offers us more options offensively and this is something that my players understand. It’s something positive. The same goes for Antonis. He is a player who plays as power forward, but with an exceptional long range shot. And this is not the only advantage of his. I expect from him and also from Tsartsaris to be even better on defense. Because both of them can play defense on the perimeter player of the opposite team and if they start to do it more effectively than they already do, we will be much-much better. And I am talking about these two players that are always present in rebounding and I believe that they both can play better. I believe in them”.
- A tall guy that left from Panathinaikos, Nikola Prkacin, although he didn’t play too much last year has said the best things about the team and you. The same thing has happened with Javtokas. Is there an explanation for this reaction?
“Honestly I don’t know what to say, apart from the fact that I am very happy to hear these comments. In Panathinaikos first of all we see everybody as persons and then as players. Everybody that comes to the team feel good and happy. It’s not only these two players. The same happens with Tracey Murray. He calls Dimitris (Itoudis) and Manos (Papadopoulos) all the time, he wants to know what’s going on with the team. Tony Delk another big name has said the best leaving the team. I believe that this happens because Panathinaikos is a team that all of us, every member feels what mr Thanasis likes to say: Family atmosphere. Everybody who joins the team feel it. We are all trying to help every new member, because it’s part of our job. We are here to help the players and we are very proud when we here them say good things about the team”.
- Another guy that has left is Winston. Do you believe that he has the talent to become a good Euroleague player?
“First of all Kenny was a great character. Coming from Panionios was difficult for him. There is difference from team to team. I don’t want to say in any case that Panionios is a small team; on the contrary. Panionios plays in Euroleague and the team deserves to be congratulated for the win against Efes Pilsen in Turkey. The situation he found in Panathinaikos was different. To play and to understand the pressure that exists playing for Panathinaikos is important. He had the quality, he had the talent. For me as coach, it was difficult to understand how he can play a perfect game like the one against Olympiakos in Faliro, during the regular season when he had seven 3pointers, in a game that it’s one of the toughest of the season, while on the other hand in other games he didn’t take the responsibility to shot to ball. I was always trying to push him, to talk to him, to make him shoot. I tried, but especially the last two months he was like he was afraid to shoot”.
- What’s your opinion about Olympiakos and Childress?
“Everybody who knows me, knows very well that I care first and mostly about my team. This is the most important team for me. I try and I say the same thing to all my players. We have to go game by game and to respect first ourselves and then our opponents. Now we have Trikala and we have to be ready to face them. Honestly I have seen only some minutes of some games of Olympiakos. Only minutes. They have a good team, I know that they are working hard and I know that they have a great wish to get to the finals in every competition they play. We have the time till our first game against them and we are going to see a lot of their games till then. About Childress what I have seen so far is that he has the quality to help his team and his coach believes in him, because he trusts him with a lot of playing time. We have the time to speak about Olympiakos and to be ready. It’s our direct opponent, I respect them and that’s it”.
- Why Panathinaikos didn’t get one more tall player with experience in Euroleague like Santiago for example? And what’s going on with Shermadini?
“Last year we got Pekovic from Partizan. Now, if somebody asks if there was a better option, I will ask who could have been better than Pekovic. The reaction of the team was immediate. I believe that we did the best possible, because if we have waited his price would go three times up. The second thing is that we have Pekovic, Batiste, Tsartsaris, Fotsis and of course Alvertis and then Sakota. To get another big guy? Who will play and most important who will sit on the bench? It wouldn’t have been fair to get another quality player like Santiago. It’s something different to look up for a young player. In our mind there was the option to sign an older, more experienced player, but knowing it would be hard to play, just to be there to help us. This is the story. If next year we see that we need to do something like that we’ll do it. Now about Shermadini. He has already shown to us that he has talent that he works really hard. The most important is the work he had to do individually, the practices with the third coach, Dimitris (Pegioudis). He has to work. I have already told this to him. If you want to do something you have to spend a lot of time practicing. It’s simple. It’s not complicated. I will give him a chance, but the most important is for him to want to work, to improve himself. The biggest problem right now is the language, because he speaks only some English. He understands some things, there is one guy next to him all the time from Georgia, but it’s very important to solve this situation, so that we can understand each other better. He is smart, he is a fast learner and he is certainly and interesting case”.
- The fans really help, or is is something that you just say, so that us fans can feel that we are doing something for the team also?
“Yes! No question about it! Fans help us a lot. It’s something that everybody must understand, that the connection between the team and the fans it’s too important. It’s essential. First of all there would be no reason to play, without the fans. Why play, win without them? The second is that I knew as I player and I understand it now as a coach that the fans with their voice, their presence help us in difficult moments during a game. They are important. Without them it would be impossible to conquer titles. Every time they are there, their help is truly important!”
