Nerantzakis: “We had a difficult preparation, but also self-sacrifice”

Stathis Nerantzakis emphasized that PAOK faced problems in its preparation for the match against Marousi, praised Vangelis Margaritis, spoke about the lack of chemistry and the ups and downs in the performance and actions of Kevin Porter Jr., referred to the many foreign changes, asked to see the next day and believes that stopping the league won’t help.

Analytically: “Congratulations to the players, they 100% deserved the win. We had some problems with viruses, it was difficult to prepare. It was a difficult game, it was evident from our percentages, but, nevertheless, the self-sacrifice we showed defined the game.

I want to mention the team flag. Margaritis made a record of appearances in the championship, today he managed to equal Nikos Boudouris. I want to congratulate him and feel lucky to be a part of this story. He is a low-key kid and he deserves it for everything he has achieved with the PAOK jersey.”

On the fact that PAOK played an aggressive defense: “The team has gone through many difficult weeks and it is not visible from the outside. I have been doing this job for 14 years. I haven’t come across so many losses during the week in player training. Until yesterday what was happening was terrible. The chemistry that builds a team also manages to build toughness. We have a lot of changes and we couldn’t find the chemistry. We cannot show as a whole what we can do. We had a lot of ups and downs and bad performances, but I have to say ‘well done’ to them.”

On when Porter will triple double and on his adaptability: “He had six steals today. The triple double didn’t happen, but we also had 4/22 three-pointers. The most important thing about Porter is that he is not only a performer, he is multi-talented. The way he creates and passes shows that he can adapt to the European style of basketball. As a mentality, he wants to create first and then execute.”

On the changes and the eighth place: “We deserved more, simply the appearances we made and the ups and downs are justified. This year we had 12 foreign players. It is difficult to cope in Europe and Greece. Many changes cannot create a security for you to focus on one goal. There are many conditions. We could have done better, but we got what we deserved, eighth place.”

On his impressions of Porter: “The conversations I’ve had with Porter are just basketball. He had to get into the spirit of the team and what we stand for. The impressions left by the player are that he lives for basketball. When he is on the court, he wants to give 100%. He wants to pass that on to his teammates. What I keep from Porter is the attitude and the will he had on the court.”

On the management of Porter: “If we had more games, the management of the athlete would be different. He is 23 years old. There is the medical staff and the trainers monitor all the players every day. Porter’s athleticism allows him to play 40′. We have discussed it and it may have been supported by an athlete. If he came earlier, he certainly wouldn’t play 40 minutes in every game.”

On whether he should look to the next season: “Already the team has to ‘build’ on the next day. Being in the play offs gives extra time for the current season. The primary goal of the association is financial consolidation. It is too early to talk about any player, because we don’t know the financial data of the next season. There are expectations for the next year, discussions have started with the administration.”

On Nerantzakis’ hopes for the next season: “It’s too early for me. Today’s game was crossover. This is not the time to think about the next day. The goal is to prepare the team and be as competitive as possible in the Play offs”.

On the suspension of the championship: “The suspension will not help. We are in a good mood and the guys are all at 100% in training.”