Simczak: “The president’s decision to get involved really changed the course of history”

Panathinaikos won 95-80 Real Madrid and won the EuroLeague for the 7th time in its history, causing a justified… frenzy in its world.

His partner Ergin Ataman in “clover”, Vasilis Simchakwas “hosted” on EOK WebRadio’s “Live Replay” show and talked about the circumstances that led to this huge success, about the reception from the world, but also about the upcoming finals of the Greek championship.

His statements in detail:

For overcoming the bad start with the two defeats by Olympiakos: “What I understood about our own team from the summer and the preparation with the defeat in the Super Cup and in the Euroleague against Olympiacos is that we have players with very good character, strong personalities and motivated children. In other seasons, the whole team, the team, would be shaken too much and there would be great tensions, but this year they were easily overcome and there I understood that there is something special, a different approach to the team and the belief in it”.

For being early in the season: “We knew within ourselves that it will not play a very important role, but a Panathinaikos-Olympiacos match is very important for the outside world. There is too much pressure, which is transferred to the team. This was overcome relatively easily, no grumbling, no murmuring within the group. We moved forward and deep down we believed that in the end we would be the ones smiling.”

What is the reason for this year’s “rebirth” of Panathinaikos: “Where the whole momentum and the flow of the story has changed is the chairman’s decision to really get involved in the summer and help the team. If this were not done, Panathinaikos would not reach the 7th star. To me, in my own head, the first thing that comes to mind is this. From there, throughout the year there were many important moments. It’s Grigonis’ three-pointer, it’s right after the “double” in Milan. There were many points in the season and we managed to cope and reach the top”.

For their five straight wins at the end of the regular season: “The guys were very experienced, they knew that in order to win the trophy we had to win the remaining matches. Everyone came forward, there were no egos and chatter, we just looked at the wins we needed and got to 2nd place. This was a very important part that led us to the Final-4”.

On the fact that many players came from odd years: “We who are assistants, our first job is to try to understand what the player needs, to see what condition he is in, if he needs more training. We have these in our everyday life. All the kids were extra motivated this year, they came from years or a little strange situations and this resulted in many hours of discussions, outside and inside training, to become more solid and to be able to overcome any doubt that everyone had in their mind”.

About Kendrick Nunn: “His arrival has brought an individual quality to the team that not many teams have. I maintain that he is a player who, because he did not know the league and the players, needed some time to adapt, but he had a lot of confidence in himself. He believed from the beginning that he is the best and he proved it on the court as well. The arrival of Kendrick helped a lot, the others accepted him, he also took steps towards the team and “tied” the “sweet” very well.

For Ergin Ataman: “He is a very successful coach, he has his own philosophy. He is a man who, contrary to what he talks to the media and promises and everything else, is very low-key in training and everyday life. He is a bit aloof, he doesn’t put emotion in front, but he looks at the interest and the good of the team. He really likes working on the basics of the sport. It does not ask for too many details, it gives freedom to the athletes to “read” this game, it gives them confidence and time to participate. It’s a very important component to the chemistry of this team.”

About Ergin Ataman’s racing philosophy: “We’ve seen a lot of teams have very good players and managers who demand too much, who direct the game, but they don’t win trophies. The coach, with this way of training and managing players in the match, has shown that it is a successful “recipe” and logically others will follow it”.

For the games in the Final-4 with Fenerbahce and Real Madrid: “Fenerbahce suited us because they didn’t go to the transition match. We were coming off a series with Maccabi where we really suffered because he averaged 18-20 points in transition. Fener plays a lot in the set game and we had said that if we were good defensively in “5-on-5″ we would emerge victorious. As for Real, our big fear was again in transition. They were the 2nd best team in the Euroleague in this area and we said to control the game, not to make too many mistakes in our own attack. We were sure that with the drop defense that Real play aggressively we would find the solutions”.

On whether they expected Real Madrid to play a zone defence: “We didn’t expect him to play a zone, but the series against Maccabi helped us a lot, where Katas used a match-up zone a lot, so we had the plays ready and the players were ready to face any zone format. We weren’t affected, we hit big shots and managed to get the win.”

For the wild celebrations of the world: “I didn’t expect to make the distance from the airport to OAKA in three hours, it was unthinkable. We basically hadn’t slept all night, we hit it off, we flew and then we were on the bus for three hours. But it’s okay for the people, they too had to see all the players up close, to be happy. It has been a long time since we gave him such joy and emotions. Anyway, sport is for giving joy to the world. After we managed to give them such joy and happiness, a little more fatigue and suffering for us is nothing.”

On the fact that they should leave their enthusiasm and concentrate on the games for the Greek championship: “For sure there is a concern, but our job is to try to “land” all of us and from tomorrow (29/05) when the training starts to prepare properly for Mars. It won’t be an easy series. We need to come back faster than the Greek league should in reality. When the time comes we will be properly prepared, because there is great motivation for the championship as well. Our “thirst” and our goals do not stop here, there is one more important title”.