The players and the technical staff of Panathinaikos were greeted with quite enthusiasm by the young athletes of the YouCan Academy. The children applauded the tem while they played basketball with the players and then they watched practice. Actually, Dimitris Diamantidis and Argyris Pedoulakis spoke on the Greek radio station (greek.cri.cn) of Beijing about their experience.
“We are very happy to be in China and it is an important exchange of ideas as also a lesson on other people’s cultures”, stated Argyris Pedoulakis only to add: “I have said before that the Greek basketball philosophy is entirely compatible to Chinese culture since it is based in collaboration, teamwork and discipline. Our best player is the team itself”.
Dimitris Diamantidis stated amongst other things: “It is not my first time in Chine but it is a very special experience nonetheless”. When asked about Ping Shang, the Panathinaikos leader noted: “We are happy to have him as a teammate and he is working well just like the rest of the team”.
On Monday (September 16) the Panathinaikos delegation will be spending its last day in China before returning to Athens. A training session has been scheduled for 11.00 (LT) while next (after lunch) the players will have the afternoon to their leisure.
The delegation will be departing 10 minutes after Monday (September 16) midnight from Beijing to Istanbul while it is expected in Athens at 09.05 on Tuesday (September 17).
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