Kostas Tsartsaris has found himself at the top many a times with Panathinaikos; so much in Europe as in Greece. After the clash versus Ilissiakos he found himself at the top on yet another occasion. Only this time… he had no company. He reached to be the sole top rebounder, as far as defensive and offensive rebounds in the entire HEBA League history. Grand total? 2160… Behind 1431 defensive and 729 offensive ones…
Main reason of this success of his, according to him however, is that he has been competing in the league for quite some years now, as he opts to keep a low profile while speaking of such a record: “What lead me to reach such a record? The fact that I have been competing in Greece for many years. Many great rebounders have gone abroad not getting to my advantage. I pick up 10-15 rebounds during the game but I am consistent. In any event rebounding is more big men game and I play in such a position. I like to help out in that specific part of the game”.
Many support the notion that like defense so is rebounding also a matter of will: “It is so! Rebound is will above all. And from that point forward it is a caution measure. So for those of us who can jump 3 meters high from position (he laughs) it is of dire importance to bare caution measures prior to anything else in our minds: To block out are player, to watch the shot, to be in the appropriate moment. And of course once again it takes the helping hand of your teammates. Basketball is as always a team work issue”.
No matter how many times Tsartsaris has been asked who his favorite basketball player is, he has always given the same answer: Stojan Vrankovic. Luck made it so that first spot in the defensive rebounds he would snatch from the Croatian center, also one of the most beloved Panthinaikos foreigners of all time: “This is an uncanny coincidence. He was really one of my favorite players. I would not have minded in the least if he had remained at the top forever”.
His mind, going towards practice, certainly was not on his record, but on what’s in store next, on the game which awaits Panathinaikos on Thursday evening versus Real Madrid: “It is a game which is yet another final for as at the same time. In the previous “final” versus Khimki we failed to perform so well. We started out to regroup in the game across from Ilissiakos in order to re-establish our confidence. We know that Real is no Ilissiakos, the level of difficulty is way higher but we must forget all that took place in the previous games, because we have also had good games so far. The encounter of the first round certainly can be a guide for us. Tactics is almost the same, since we will be facing the same opponents. But let us not forget that Real has established a pace and that it will be coming over here aiming towards a single win in order to remain at top spot of the group all the way down to the end. We have many things to improve and we have been working a lot towards that direction. The thing for me is who will pour his heart into the game the most, a necessary element in order to prevail in such battles”.
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