Kesapidis: “Vezenkov is the best 4 in Europe – Don’t stop working”

His coach Sasha Vezenkov in its infrastructure sections MarsAndreas Kesapidis, spoke to EEC Web Radio and praised the Bulgarian forward of Olympiakos.

Kesapidis commented on the fact that Sasha “pierced his ceiling” and is now the top 4 in Europewhile he advised him not to stop working, even though he is already at a very high level.

In detail what he said:

On whether Vezenkov expected to reach this high: “I think all the work and what we’ve seen since then, Sasha being young, has shown us that he’s going to be something big. We couldn’t put a finger on it and say he was going to be that big, but I was sure he was going to be a star player at the top level. I think it exceeded everyone’s expectations. I think right now we are talking about the best “4” in Europe, we are talking about the player with the most expensive contract in Europe, about a kid who went to the NBA. He has “broken” many ceilings and all this has been done with the hard work and dedication he had to what he loves very much”.

For its maturity: “The environment that Sasha had all these years plays a huge role in this. He had tremendous support from his family. It helped him avoid any mischief and was extremely mature in the game as well. And in his outside life he was very mature, he knew exactly what he wanted to do. He was very consistent about it all. I think that’s what set him apart. This is a quality of all those who succeed, when the focus is 100% in the end you always make something good”.

For his smart game: “He really was a second coach on the field. In other words, he is one of the guys the coach wants to work with. He talks to him and he understands five. He knows how to cover any of his weaknesses. His mind is working at a very high speed.”

For the Children’s final with Mantoulidis: “Mantoulidis had 6 consecutive Panhellenic Championships in the Children’s category and we were the contenders. We play a final in Mikra with 3.5 thousand people, very nice game. We are 1 point behind, we have taken a time-out, we show a play how Sasha will come out to shoot. Sasha “reads” and does something different than what we have shown, because the defense has adjusted. He took a very difficult shot and he puts it. Everything else is history, we won the championship of Thessaloniki, we won the Panhellenic Championship undefeated”.

For the interest of Mantoulidis: “He was very close to going to Mantoulidis, but with the actions of the administration at the time, I think we did the “colpo grosso” and brought him shortly before he signed with Mantoulidis. That year Sasha was at the Pan-European with the Bulgarian Children’s team, we hadn’t seen him, we were talking with his dad. Three of us started, three of us trying to work him. Over time I think very correctly we all understood that it is… 3.5 to 4. Both he and the family accepted it. He understood that there was a gap in European basketball and I think we made the right choice to end up there.”

For having stayed on Mars one more year: “I think that’s exactly what we were talking about about maturity of thought and decision. That’s where I believe with this decision to stay at Mars and have the year he did, to come out as MVP of the league, he showed a lot of kids what the way should be, Many times we rush to the ephemeral joy, to the very flashy and miss the point. Sasha chose the safest path, but that safe path led him to something much greater. It was a key decision and the role he had at that time in Aris and the way he played that year I think put him much stronger in the basketball team”.

On the difficult times he spent in the NBA: “The way he trained in America helped him a lot. Sasha feels won. In the process and career of an athlete there will be difficult moments. I believe that Sasha has had 1-2 such difficult times and in Barcelona he has had difficult times. And now he went through a relatively difficult time, being MVP of the Euroleague he went to the NBA without playing time. And from this path, however, he found things to gain in order to do what he has to do in the coming years.”

For Sasha’s best tip: “What I always told him, wherever he always did, was to never stop working. Even now a kid who makes that money, who is a Euroleague MVP, who played in the NBA, the way he works would be the envy of a lot of 16-year-olds and 20-year-olds. He is unstoppable, he works all the time, he has no days off, his mind is on how to constantly improve. I think this is a way of life, which I hope becomes a model for the younger ones so that they can follow it.”