Katsikaris: “Olympiacos should check the racket with Real – Panathinaikos-Fener is too “open”

THE Fotis Katsikaris hosted on EEC web radio, with its technician Girona to talk about his experience in the Spanish league, but also about the renewal with the Catalan club.

At the same time, the 57-year-old Greek coach was asked to comment onthis year’s Euroleague Final 4 and his semi-finals Olympiakou with Real and his Panathinaikou with Fenerbahce, emphasizing among other things what the two “eternal” should pay attention to.

The statements of Fotis Katsikaris in detail:



On Girona’s stay in ACB: “It’s such a difficult league that you can’t rest on anything. Basically we knew we were saved a few hours before the match started in Vitoria and make the two wins against Baskonia and Gran Canaria. With the two additions we made, with Birch and York, the team improved a lot. The most important thing is that the team was saved.”

For the Spanish league: “To call a league the best, you look at it from top to bottom. In the Spanish league we saw some surprising results, such as the victory of Manresa in Madrid, Breogan in Barcelona. It has a lot of quality, very good players, coaches. It is definitely the strongest league in Europe.”

For next season: “We’ll see. My stay is not yet official, but we are very close, we are talking. Girona want to build a better team and learn from some mistakes made in this year’s design. They built a squad in the summer with 7 ACB first time players, a big number for a team looking to save themselves. A tally is being made based on the players under contract to build a stronger team. If we play two competitions, we will want an even better team.”



For the Euroleague Final Four: “This year is really a very “open” Final-4, in the sense that all four teams have very strong elements, each with a different profile. Along with their weaknesses, it’s clear what day each team will be in.”

For the semi-final of Olympiakos with Real: “Real had a very good regular season, they are a very experienced team, they have a lot of depth in the roster and Chus Mateo managed during the year. It is complete in all positions. The lack of Dek is important, because he gives them many things and also weak elements as a team, which Olympiacos must try to “hit”. Surely Olympiacos should check the racket. Real have the game of Tavares and Poirier, which is in very good condition, especially in attack. One complements the other. Does Olympiacos have the players to deal with these two players, they are very full there. Also, I find Real to be unstable on the three-pointer. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t have three-point players, he just doesn’t have a consistent percentage. When she’s near 40%, it’s very hard to beat her, because she also raises the number on her attack. For me, a key player, who doesn’t seem to be well lately, is Hezonia. It will be interesting to see Mateo’s management as well. However, I don’t think that the title of favorite will stress Real”.

For the Panathinaikos semi-final with Fenerbahce: “This couple is very “open”. Jasikevicius has tried to “bind” them as a team with a team defense more, based on his philosophy. They qualified very hard against Monaco, but they remain a team that had players in positions that are dangerous. It’s a balanced team, although I don’t know how Motley will be. There are key players in Fenerbahce, such as Wilbekin and Guduric, that Panathinaikos will have to make sure they don’t feel comfortable. All four teams have players who make the difference, but I think the key players will play a role in these matches. We should definitely see a Panathinaikos like in the regular season with their defense. He must play a better defense than in the series with Maccabi and have more time.”