Grant: “We are a new team, but we have the talent”

Jerian Grant emphasized that Panathinaikos has players who can play defense against any team and any player, he focused on the energy that Kalaitzakis gave coming off the bench, he focused on the role of some players, his own role and his own work in parquet, he thinks about the possibility of Panathinaikos winning the Euroleague and he mentioned the trust that Ergin Ataman shows in him.

Analytically:

On his team’s defensive performance: “We have the guys who can play defense, we have the talent for it, we’re a new team and we worked to get that performance. Kalaitzakis gives us a lot of energy from the bench, I start the work in defense, push at the beginning and then Kalaitzakis, Nan, Lessor etc help us a lot”.

On his role in this year’s Panathinaikos: “I am the person who does what a team needs and I am happy about it. It makes me happy to give a team what it needs every night to win. As long as the team wins, I’m happy, the main thing for me is that the team wins, I get more ‘filled’ doing the… small things in basketball terms than scoring 25 points. Those who know basketball know my talent and what I offer to each of my teams.”

On whether they are thinking about the seventh star: “We are going game by game, but we are also looking at the big picture, we are now fourth in the standings and we know that we have the potential to go all the way, we are thinking about something big, but we are going step by step and game-game”.

On his relationship with Ergin Ataman: “The coach knew what I can do, he saw me last year, but my role this year is different, during the season I had to show my coach what I can do. Now, he himself trusts me more than at the beginning of the season.”