Milutinov: “I would really like to have a Greek final in the Final 4, it would be incredible!”

Only a few 24 hours are left for the great celebration of European basketball and the holding of the Final 4 of Euroleague the three-day 24-26 May in Berlin!

His team Olympiakou will fly to the German capital tomorrow, Wednesday (22/05), putting the finishing touches on the competition’s big semi-final against European champions Real Madrid (24/05, 22:00).

THE Nikola Milutinov spoke to the NOVA camera both about her his outstanding performance in Game 5 of the playoffs with Barcelona, ​​as well as for him serious injury which plagued him during the season and kept him out for two months.

Asked if there might be one Greek “civil war” in the final of this year’s Final-4, the Serbian center of the “red and white” did not hesitate to answer, revealing that would like such an encounter to happen and how incredible that would be!

In fact, the 29-year-old tall man from Piraeus is essentially the first player of both teams which speaks openly about this possibility and favors a European ‘derby of the ages’at the time where Lessor, for example, in a corresponding question had rejected one such scenario!

What Nikola Milutinov said in detail:



On Game 5 against Barcelona where he had an impressive 2nd half and his feelings since his return to Olympiakos: “I was definitely very happy because I’ve been through a lot this year. And I’m referring to my latest injury. I went through very difficult times during my recovery, I had a lot of ups and downs not only in my body but mainly in the psychological part. I’m lucky because the people around me helped me get through this whole process and get back to the team. I was excited when I got back into the team and fighting to get into the final four was something I really wanted. Because I really believe that when you go through such difficult times and I refer to everything I went through with my injury, they make you very strong and give you extra motivation and extra “hunger” to succeed. I was incredibly focused and had a huge motivation to go to the final four.”

On whether he felt a weight on his shoulders that he had to return quickly to help the team: “Initially when I got injured I didn’t think it would take me so long to come back. When the MRI results came I was shocked. I went through the surgery, I went through the recovery party, some days you feel great some days not so much. Some days you feel awful and through all those good days and bad days I was lucky to have a very good physical therapist. They knew exactly what I had to do and how it would be and everyone around me was so calm that they gave me that calm during the very difficult times I experienced. To be honest because I didn’t walk for a month after the operation, when I started walking it felt so weird I couldn’t believe how weird it felt. And I couldn’t see how I could be back in two weeks! I say again that I was lucky because I also had professionals by my side and they knew exactly what I needed to do to get back. But the first moment for me walking was questionable and I was like “I’m not sure I’ll be able to turn around in a month and run and jump…”.

On whether the presence of the two teams in the Euroleague play offs and later in the Final Four was extra motivation: “The truth is that I was mostly focused on myself and the team. If you lose your concentration in these moments, you will not be able to play. I think it’s very good for Greek basketball to have two teams in the Final Four and I think both teams deserve to be there because they both had amazing runs in the play offs and amazing seasons in general. It is very nice for the Greeks and Greek basketball, and I believe that without a good Panathinaikos there is no good Olympiacos and vice versa. I think both teams have to be good, to make it much more interesting to watch them and that’s much better for the fans.”

On whether he is looking forward to the Final Four and on the possibility of a Greek final: “If that happens it will be incredible! And I really want it to happen! It will of course be very difficult for the team that loses… (laughs) But let’s go step by step and play Real Madrid first and try to win this game.”