Statements after the defeat by Montenegro and the completion of the presence of our national team in this year’s Mundobasket, made by Dimitris Itoudis.
The Federal coach emphasized that he keeps the way our internationals fought during the competition, he said that he feels proud of his team’s effort, while he also talked about the important role played by the absences.
In detail what the coach of our national team said:
“Congratulations to Montenegro. We tried, but it wasn’t enough, as you saw. We lacked energy, although the players were in good spirits and wanted to win. I keep the unity of this group of players, despite the absences and bad luck. They stood together and represented the country with dignity. A big thank you also to our fans who traveled so far to be with us.
We came who we came and we fought. We tried to use our players in the best way. That we got through to the second phase and secured a place in the Pre-Olympics and that, given the conditions, is an achievement. Who doesn’t want Slukas, Kalathis, Giannis or Costas Antetokounmpo? Some players asked for rest to prepare their bodies for the new season, while some others had an injury and underwent surgery, such as Giannis, Kostas and Kaselakis.
We came here knowing the problems and we lost Mitoglou which was a shock. But the team remained united, in some cases we exceeded our ceiling. I too enjoyed this course and how we overcame or tried to overcome some obstacles by looking for solutions with my partners and our players. For three quarters we struggled against a very good team like Lithuania, today we struggled against a team with big bodies. I hope next time we have more players available and not so many players with reasonable excuses for their absence. I hold on to the unity, the bonds these kids made.
You saw at the end that everyone went not to the center, but to the bench to hug and shout Hellas with Hatzidakis who turned his leg. Also some young guys, like Rogavopoulos and Moraitis got a taste of the World Cup and this is important for the future.
I don’t think you know very well the players we could have available given the absences. Many did not have a large role or had a specific role in their teams. Here they were asked to do something extra, in minutes, in role, in points… It’s not easy to do it overnight, because these events are like a sprint. We really missed Mitoglou as a point of reference and we lost him at the last minute. The players gave it their all and I’m proud of them, both the youngsters and our veterans.
It is not up to me to choose, but to the availability of the players. We will think about it in the next few days. I don’t know where the Pre-Olympic Tournament will take place, maybe in Greece, maybe somewhere else.”
Source: Sport Fm
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