Papatheodorou: “The long period without success in the national team is not due to the pool of players”

The opinion that the period of time that has been left without much success the National team it is not due to the pool of players coming from behind expressed o Ilias Papatheodorou.

His coach Prometheus talk to EEC WebRadioemphasizing, among other things, that the many absences at the World Cup played a role, but he also cited the examples of Lithuania and her Latvia who had crucial absences, but are convincingly – as he described – in the “8” of the organization.

The statements of Ilias Papatheodorou in detail:

As for whether the 14 “barren” years of the national team are a matter of… tanking: “The Men’s National Team is the “showcase” and has a very long period of time without any success. This has nothing to do with the pool of players coming from behind. From 2009 onwards, many notable players who are still in the National team have passed. There is a pool of Greek players, I don’t think our problem is that regarding the men’s team».

For the Men’s National Team: “The reality is that our position in World Basketball is low right now. There were circumstances that no one can deny were negative for us, too many children and important players were left out of the national team for various reasons. The national team’s pool is not too big, so when we have 5-6 absences they count. On the other hand, we can juxtapose the Lithuanians or the Latvians who also have key absences, but are currently convincingly in the “8”. This should definitely concern us and make us wonder why we cannot have a better result despite all the important absences. An assessment of the situation must be made.

In my opinion, it is important for us that we have people who have a very good background and love the National Team, either because they have played and had very great successes, or because they have the quality and personality to manage such situations. I am referring to Zisis, Dikoudis, Tsartsari. Everyone must sit together, discuss and create the conditions that will give us a different direction regarding the basketball we want to play, regardless of absences or not. For better or for worse, we have the most pivotal player in basketball right now, Giannis Antetokounmpo, with whom we have to play a very specific style of play that we all have to adapt to. That’s why we have to follow a certain direction and everyone should be receptive to it. If we want to play with Giannis in a certain way or another».

For the teams that are in the “8” of the World: “I think the best teams in this whole tournament are in the ‘8’. Lithuania has shown a very great stability and quality throughout the tournament, Latvia has also shown a very good backset. The USA and Canada are two teams that stand out due to individual talent, quality and physical ability, the Serbians are a traditional force, which continues despite all its absences and has a very wide range of player selection. What should concern us more is that these countries have not gone with the best possible rosters, but they have an “identity”, a consistency, they play well, they play correctly, they all play together with a common goal. In this light, I think, should be the decisions that have to be made for us the next day».