Serelis: “It doesn’t make us indifferent that we have no hopes for the playoffs”

With several problems, Panathinaikos awaits Barcelona for the 30th matchday of the Euroleague. Christos Serelis spoke about the difficult task that the “greens” have against the Catalans and emphasized that his team will not be indifferent to the game.

His statements in detail:

For the exclusion of Thomas from the Basket League: “He is 100% professional. Despite the fact that he has been at Panathinaikos for a short time, it is as if he has been in the team since the beginning of the year. He has made a tremendous effort, after my own arrival with the change of coaching staff. Unfortunately I could only make one change. It was a hard decision and whatever I chose would be unfair! We thought about who was closer to the Greek reality and would help us as the team is built. I think I couldn’t do anything else but choose Grigonis. Tomas’ treatment is highly professional and how much he thinks of the team, despite his disappointment.”

For the disposition… sacrifice of Panathinaikos: “It was the first thing we asked for. We came in February and I don’t think we can attract in the attacking part. We had to…sacrifice and put our bodies on the line to get victories. Each player also had to produce data that he had not shown since the beginning of the year and often this is done over a long period of time. Barcelona is a team with a lot of strength and we have to do our best, with a defensive commitment.”

For absences: “We won’t have Ponitka and Bacon in this match.”

For Williams: “He has a very minor injury that if we were different he could have rested in a match. We tried it with PAOK, but it is not easy as we have seen. We want to win, but the fact that we have no hope for the playoffs does not make us indifferent. We hit all the games. It’s not easy to rest Williams, nor Lee and Walters. So we try to manage. He doesn’t feel comfortable in all the matches and has played in many with self-sacrifice”.

For Manjuka: “The magic word is consistency. What we expect from every player is that he never feels confident, never feels comfortable, in the sense that he has to keep working and claiming things. We expect him to stabilize his performance and become a constant for the team. We expect the same from other children. I have no complaints from any of them. They all try. It is not very easy to win and they take time. We have minimal training sessions and we try to fit them all in.”