Xanthopoulos: “Spanoulis will give the National team a winning mentality, that it can beat everyone”

For his debut on her bench National is being prepared Vasilis Spanoulisas Greece welcomes tonight (23/02, 21:00) the Czech republic at SEF for the 1st matchday of his qualifiers Eurobasket 2025.

Ahead of this matchup, guard of Peristeri bwin, Vasilis Xanthopouloswas “hosted” on his “Live Replay” show EEC WebRadio and talked about his west suburban team coach ‘Kill Bill’ and what he expects to change in the National team under his technical leadership.

In detail what he said:

About what Spanoulis will give to the National Team: “I think that what he can give to the National Team is the philosophy of the winner. He tries to pass the same to us at the beginning of the season, that all the games, regardless of the opponent, we are going to win them. I think he is one of the coaches who can convey it to you more easily, because he has gone through the highest level as a player having played in big teams where he always went for the win. This is also in his character. So the first thing I think he will give to the National Team is the mentality to beat everyone. In every game, that is, to give 100% and not make… discounts. The national team is not just a team, but you play for your country. It’s a huge honor for any player to wear the coat of arms and it’s a completely different thing than playing for your team.”

On the philosophy of Vassilis Spanoulis: “In general, he likes the speed of the game a lot and relies a lot on defense. Just as we have been “built” in Peristeri, it needs defense, running and surprise”.

On what he asks of the players: “It’s very important that he has played basketball at a high level, so he has a high level of understanding of what each player can and cannot do. We players, because we are a bit… selfish, we think we can do more things, so the player himself must understand what he can and cannot do. I’m talking in general, not about the national team. I think that the direction of Vassilis and what he will ask from each player and as a team, will be based on the characteristics and the roster he will have. I believe he will do the same today with the Czech Republic.”

On whether managing a national team is difficult: “It’s definitely not easy. Despite all that, in the national team you usually have the best players. This year, fortunately, the EuroLeague is also helping to leave a gap so that some of its players can play in the “windows”. It is very important that in previous years the staffing of the national team was done by the lower teams, who played BCL or not at all in Europe, where they showed character and a very good face, that is why they qualified for the final stages. As I said at the beginning, it is not easy because you have a very short period of time to prepare the team and especially if you are a new coach and you have to go through his philosophy. Of course he doesn’t get to do all the things he wants, but I think he will put in the basics and based on the talent of the players and the defense we will have a good result, starting with the game against the Czech Republic.”

For the pre-Olympic in Greece: “Slovenia and Croatia are two very good teams. I believe that it is impossible not to play these two teams, one will be in the semi-final and the other in the final. I hope all the guys are healthy, this will play a huge role in having the best possible roster. By then, the coach will have gone through several things from his philosophy. I think what is happening in Greece will help a lot. We will have the world with us, so this will be an extra motivation and an extra “player” for the National team in the pre-Olympic games. However, no extra pressure should be placed on the children because we are playing at home.”

For the season that Peristeri is going through bwin: “The good thing is that the team took a step further compared to last year, where they did not reach the top-16, while this year they managed to do it with good basketball in general. We are currently 3rd in Greece. After the 0-3 we did at the beginning of the season, in all the remaining matches we made three defeats in total. We are in a good ranking position and in general our image is very good within the borders and we want to continue like this. Now we have two weeks off after the Cup, we are trying to work as best as we can and continue without any injury so that we can finish the season strong.”