Dimitris Priftis promised that the Panathinaikos will be competitive with Zalgiris Kaunas, given the proportions and… too many absences that the “greens” have to face.
«We have said that regardless of our scoring position we will not give up. Both for their personal goals, each one individually, but especially for the team, we want to be competitive. Obviously as much as the conditions allow, as we will go to this game with many problems, maybe even more than the previous one. It’s an adventurous game that has already been postponed twice, let’s see how it develops“, Initially stated the coach of Panathinaikos OPAP in the established press conference.
When asked to report the problems of the match and the absences of his team in view of tomorrow’s match, the coach of the “clover” stressed that: “Ioannis Papapetrou, Okaro White, George Papagiannis, who will come shortly before the game as he will travel in the morning, while Bohoridis is 99% doubtful. If it is it will be just to be in the nine or ten that we will download. Unfortunately, we will not have Hugas either because it is a postponed game and he does not have the right to participate. In combination with the absence of White, this is an additional problem and, judging by his very positive performance in the previous match, it is another absence. Of course, Jovic’s absence is also important. We made this addition, but unfortunately when he started to find his rhythm we lost him. If Bohoridis does not play, the relationship between the guards will shrink too much».
Regarding the opportunities he gives to the young athletes of the team, the Greek coach noted that: “We pretty much did it when our roster was almost full. And sometimes we gave opportunities, especially to Mantzoukas. It is very pleasant that in the previous match Hugaz also played, while Abdalas also takes time to participate, mainly in the Greek championship. It is a will that we have, plus the fact that at the moment conditions are leading us in that direction. It is very important that children respond because they train, of course».
Finally, when asked about the war in Ukraine and the developments regarding the participation of Russian teams in the event, he commented that: “I would say that what we said before is probably 10% -20% of our concept at this time. Obviously, the minds of all of us are there. We hope that the developments we expect will be positive. You see, there is an impact on sports as well. I’m not sure if the Euroleague games for the Russian teams will be simply postponed or played in neutral venues. I think this approach is very optimistic and that it will not happen either. In any case, we will have to wait for the developments. All this is unpleasant and if combined with the previous pandemic, I think that in general our planet is going through a difficult period».
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