Panathinaikos will be departing shortly for China… The Greens’ delegation is at the “Eleftherios Venizelos” airport from where it will be flying to Istanbul and from there to Guangzhou.
Ping Shang has first say… for reasons easy to understand: “I am happy to be returning to my country. And I am happy that my friends, the fans in China will have the chance to see the best team in Europe up close. I hope that after this trip more fans comprehend better what Panathinaikos stands for. Personally I am getting better day by day at the court. Coach is really helping me and everyone is like a family to me”.
Panathinaikos has traveled to Canada, Huston, San Antonio and now is getting ready to head out to China. Mike Batiste knows all too well what this means: “Panathinaikos is a great name, like Real Madrid and Barcelona. We are going to the other end of the world, they will get to know us there better and I hope this trip does exactly that. We will be playing a friendly game, but honestly at this stage the result is of no importance. They key is for us to enter a game pace gradually, to become better game by game. That is the goal. You want to win every time you step foot out on the floor, but right now this is not the aspiration. Let us not forget that we are missing quite a few players”.
As far as his role, Batiste stressed: “I am the team’s old guy. I am here to do the best I can and assist the other players. I spoke with coach, he asked me to do so and as I said when I returned, whatever coach wants I will do the best I can”.
Nikos Pappas and Vladimiros Jankovic, newcomers to Panathinaikos, also state prepared for the trip to China. “We have a very important game ahead of us, so much for competitive as for marketing reasons”, stressed Pappas only to continue: “About the second game I am not the appropriate person to answer. I can speak of the first of course, since this game will be significant to us, it will be an important test, since we are during preseason. That is where we players should focus in. Panathinaikos is a team that is up for all three titles every year and that is what it will be doing this season also. And we must be prepared for the trip of a lifetime will are about to venture out to”.
Jankovic stated: “We are proud to be participating also in this historical tour. Panathinaikos is the first European team ever to be traveling and playing a friendly game in China, something quite significant. It is the preseason, we are committing tough training sessions and now there will be a series of friendly games initially in China, then in Moscow and next in Rethymno. I can say nothing about goals, apart from that each of us will be giving 150% of one’s self. The chemistry is correct and I have a great feeling about all to follow”.
Pedoulakis: “To become known in Asia”
Argyris Pedoulakis knows all too well what this trip Panathinaikos is committing to China means. As also he know that the Greens’ preseason prep has still quite some ground to cover in view of the team being as prepared as possible for the 2013-14 season.
"We continue our preparation with quite a few absences due to the players’ presence in the 2013 EuroBasket. This trip is being committed, main goal for the Panathinaikos name to become known in one of the planet’s largest countries. At the same time we will gather experience in a basketball different to the European one, NBA or College basketball. We want the Panathinaikos name to break into the Asian Market. We will continue our preparation. The players have been working quite well, only negative issues the absences. But this is an issue that many teams are facing. All to be here have been illustrating great will, they have bonded and we want the new players to also master the Panathinaikos’ philosophy. And I believe that we are on the right track”.
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