Panathinaikos is in Cyprus and tomorrow (25/10, 21.30, NovaSports) will face Laboral Kutxa for the 2nd Euroleague Day. Argyris Pedoulakis held a press conference at "Tassos Papadopoulos-Eleftheria" , the arena that will host the game.
"We would like to thank the Basketball Federation of Cyprus for the hospitality. We are happy to be here and we are confident about our choice to be here. We wanted to be present in the two biggest islands of Hellenism, here and in Crete, in order to give the fans the chance to watch games of high level".
Pedoulakis talked about Panathinaikos' opponent: "Laboral Kutxa is a team of the spanish school of basketball. They play in high speed and for that I am convinced that the rhythm of the game will be a big factor. They have a problem in position 3, so they may use short line ups and they also have the addition of Kaukenas. He is an experienced player and if he will play he will help them cover for some their absentees. We are still in the beginning of the season and we need to be very careful. For us it's a problem that we didn't have the chance to practice together many times since the beginning of the training camp. So now, we play more with the mind and less with the body".
Regarding the conclusions about the team so far he said: "We can't speak about conclusions. Don't forget that we had Eurobasket this year with 11 games in 18 days for the players. It's only logical for the teams not to be ready at this time of the season. There are teams who have invested a lot of money. This alone is not the guarantee for anything. Last year there were teams who had high budgets, but they didn't made it to Top16".
Pedoulakis was asked about Ukic: "Ukic doesn't practice. Yesterday he didn't make it throughout the practice and he is putting on a great effort in order to help the team. It will be a big problem of us if he doesn't play. Mavrokefalidis comes had to face an injury too and we also had Lasme who was out for several months actually. It's something that we have to handle during the game".
When asked about the youngsters in the team, Pedoulakis replied: "There are kids in the team that make a very big step in their career. They have advantages, but they also have weaknesses. We are almost cynical with our players. We tell them the truth. The only sure thing is that they need time. Even Mike Batiste or Nick Calathes they didn't have an easy first year in Panathinaikos. The big bet for them is not to listen to the people around them, either these people are their friends and family, or the journalists. They must not be disappointed. There are a lot of games and they will find their time on the floor".
Pedoulakis was asked also about the situation that Panathinaikos finds itself in this time of the season: "We had just nine practices all together. There are players who still don't know the plays. If we are healthy in one month, one and a half maybe, we'll be ready. The problem is the physical condition of some players, because of their injuries. Especially Ukic's and Lasme's injuries affected us a lot particularly in defense. Plus the fact that in our first Euroleague game of the season we didn't have Mike Bramos too. We have to play with our mind. Panathinaikos has its own school. Panathinaikos plays with the brain, but in order to achieve that you need time. Some of our players have learned first to act and then to think. We want the exact opposite and we are working towards that direction".
For the decision to play these two games in Cyprus and Crete, Pedoulakis stated: "We had the choice to play in OAKA. It would be empty, but we know the floor, the baskets, every corner, simply because it's our home court. We have reached this decision to come here and then to travel to Crete so that the fans would have the opportunity to see Panathinaikos up close. We know that a lot of Cypriots travel to Athens to see Panathinaikos playing. So, we wanted to give back some of the love you are giving us all these years. People always sands by the team in good and bad moments. And this is what make this team different. I am sure that the fans will be on our side tomorrow too".
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