Kalambokis: “The right mentality is being built at Paedon, Diamantidis has contributed the most”

The coach of the National Children’s National Team, Yiannis Kalambokis, was “hosted” on EOK WebRadio and talked about 3/3 of our representative group in the Eurobasket U16 group of Heraklion, the mentality that is “built” in the team, as well as the presence of Dimitris Diamantidis next to the children. The Greek team will face Poland on Tuesday at 18:30 in a knockout match. He said in detail:

For 3/3 of the National Children’s team in the group: “The children have made a great effort and congratulations go to them. They have made a very big effort for almost 40 days, where through this process of changing their daily life and the routine they had until now, they have managed to respond to a program which is difficult, as for all national teams . This first phase of the tournament showed that they believe more in themselves. When they are focused and committed to a goal, results slowly come. The most important thing is that everything a new player and a new team wants to “build”, requires patience, daily effort and humility and seriousness”.

For yesterday’s (11/08) victory over Italy: “It was a match where both teams were tired, a difficult game, without rhythm. Because we were patient and insisted on some things in the match, at the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 4th quarter the match “opened up”. Our defense held us until then, which is what we want to be our “identity”. This is very important to me. When defeat comes, obviously we should know why we lost. We have to do what we have to do to win, know why we won and then know why we lost.”

On where he initially thought this team could go: “It’s not just the 3/3, but we’ve also played some tough friendlies where the lads did really well there too. One of the reasons this has been done is that we try to set our rules in every match and succeed in our own way to prevail. I can’t say that I saw this team in 8th place, 10th or staying at the top, because I don’t believe in this programming. Yesterday we didn’t deal with what we want, ie win or lose by some margin, there was no mention of it and I said to them “Let others do the calculations. We must play to win and claim victory under any condition. Let’s build something”. After that, whatever position the kids take, if there’s anything left I’d like it to be a way of thinking and a mindset like I described.”

For the sudden transition of children to the different program: “There is a continuous program, these children have not sat down. The guys do about 8 hours of training, that is 5 training sessions of 1.5 hours, or even some of 2 hours and suddenly they enter a program where they have to do 20-24 hours of training. There is a very big difference in this, so significant adjustments have to be made and happen gradually, so that you can compete with countries and traditional basketball schools, which have a very different background from us. They have much more training hours during the week, they have school sports which gives them a different culture and a different coaching education. We agreed with the guys that if we want to compete and respond to all this pressure and handicap we have to change the way we work and adapt it. We have the possibility of having a field and training hours, something that does not happen to their teams. The guys have really tried very hard and this 3/3 I don’t know if a few months ago, based on our group as well, it was a realistic scenario. Through effort, work and trust in each other, a mentality is “built” that makes you look higher. This is the greatest satisfaction that me and my partners feel, having just completed the 1st round, because it is not something to triumph about.”

For the anxiety that can be transferred to children by the presence of the world: “This plays a role for the children. At some point there is the ignorance of risk and at some point you realize that you have to win. Enduring being nice is not easy at these ages. Realizing that you’re doing something well and that you’re above average isn’t always easy and it scares you sometimes.”

For the Children’s National Team: “There is talent, there are kids with prospects. This team started in December, in a tournament in Spain and in some matches in Rising Stars, where of course we had a very big rotation. All these performances and images, the difference in strength, speed, bodies, played a role and created some foundations. We strongly believe in work. It is very important that all children understand how to “build” the mentality of the right athlete and if they succeed, those who have talent will really play basketball at a high level. They are not secured. We are lucky to have Dimitris Diamantidis in the team, the greatest example of a player who did not play in a small national team and made it big. He really is the most positive role model that kids could have, to advise them, to be with us, to support us, to be part of the team. And that in itself plays a very important role in that this team has a chemistry, a cohesion and there is a nice aura.”

For Dimitris Diamantidis: “For children, it is as it should be. He talks to the point. This is his profile. He will say what he needs to say when he needs to say it. He is not arrogant, he is not isolated, he is the one who should. He reaches out to the kids, gives them the right advice at the right time. That’s a really big advantage of the kids in this group and it’s really contributed to that confidence in the kids. We want the kids to feel comfortable in the game, to take shots, we motivate them to take attempts, we just want all this to be done through a proper preparation”.

For the work done in the development part: “There must be a way to prepare and work for the children, as well as planning. A very big effort has been going on in recent years. We have seen all the children. Every time there are the most ready players who are going to represent the teams. This opportunity is very important, I tell the children that they should enjoy and rejoice in the victory. We want the children to be happy. To rejoice in victory and to be sad in defeat, because they must be human, be children and express their feelings. Preparation and work is done. Certainly there are very good teams, teams with tremendous athletic and physical qualities, we see it every day in the games. It’s important when we leave the field knowing that we gave it our all.”