Panathinaikos’ first practice for the 2012-13 season was committed this evening at the OAKA indoor arena. Present for the training session in player department were Dimitris Diamantidis, Kostas Tsartsaris, Sofoklis Schortsanitis, Vassilis Xanthopoulos, Andy Panko, Roko Leni Ukic, Mike Bramos and Haris Giannopoulos; alongside them, youngsters Vassilis Haralabopoulos and Yorgos Diamantakos. To join the gang were four members of the U-18 Panathinaikos squad (Yannis Logothetis, Yannis Anagnostakis, Dimitris Soropanis, Etinosa Erevbenagie); finally also present was Nestoras Kommatos. Jonas Maciulis and Derwin Kitchen were absent, destined to come along when the team will be in Karpenisi (16-29 August).
Head coach, Argyris Pedoulakis stated: “The word to best characterize the effort and the team right now is “reboot”. New facts exist. Panathinaikos is the most successful team in the history of Greek sports as far as team sports are concerned. My opinion is that it simply rebooted. The team has the technical know-how, experienced players exist, new players have arrived. Panathinaikos knows how to deal with situations, it is in its DNA all these years. Success is a motive for all at this point. We have guys on the team eager for distinctions. The most important element this team had all these years was great atmosphere, the feeling of it being a family, something which essentially unraveled itself on court. This year our disadvantage is that most of the players are new to the team, three more signings are to be committed but our goal remains the same. Our main object is to read into our opponent’s game. Panathinaikos is the first team ever to do that. It is the most successful team in Europe and at this moment in time we are called upon to continue the legacy. We will give our all for the fans who will come to see us in action at out court because we want to keep Panathinaikos at its high stature”.
