Subotic on Printez: “He never put himself forward, he didn’t play for statistics”

He spoke of him in the best words George Printezis the Lefteris Suboticswho was hosted on the EEC Web Radio and referred to the elements that stand out in “Pri”, who will be honored with a shirt retirement by the Olympic on Friday (06/09).

We remind you that “Pixie” was the coach who gave to Printez the “baptism of fire” in Euroleague and under his guidance the veteran forward scored his first “red and white” points against Heracles in November 2002.

What he said in detail:

For Giorgos Printezis: “When I had him as a player, I could not then say that he will become such a great player and make such a progress. I saw a talented kid, who was very hardworking, listened very much to the coach and his teammates, never caused any problems. What struck me then is that he had a very great talent. His subsequent development was awesome, he played great basketball, in great teams, he had a very long career. From an early age, he showed an appetite for work, an appetite for learning, while he is also a great character.”

For the large baskets of Giorgos Printezis: “I was in Istanbul when he put the big basket of Spanoulis pasha. I was very happy. George proved that he is a great player and only such can do it. It wasn’t his only basket, he had many more. I remember one in SEF against Barcelona and in other games, he was never afraid. He never put himself forward, he didn’t play for statistics. He was a team player, he could score 20 points, he could score 4 points, he gave everything for the team.”

About the hard work of Printezis: “I remember when we moved to the stadium of Korydallos, since it was closed at SEF due to the Olympic Games, and when we entered the stadium he was already there. He always stayed after practice. He was a very hardworking child. He loved basketball, never had a problem with extra training. If a player only bets on the training he does with the team and doesn’t do extra training or effort on his days off, he can’t have a great career. Talent is 5%, the remaining 95% is work and indeed hard work.”

About Drazen Petrovic: “I had been his opponent several times. Even with Aris, when we played a friendly with Tsibona at the beginning of 1998, if I remember correctly. I had spoken to him 2-3 times on the phone, because I was in Boston at the time. I had gone to see Stojko Vrankovic and Drazen had called him one morning, which I picked up. Then he could not find out the results of the NBA and wanted to ask Stoikos, who was sleeping. I spoke with him a few times, those were the only contacts I had with him. We are talking about a huge player, who left an era. Unfortunately he left too soon.

In all the teams I have worked with, I tell my players that Drazen’s example should be followed by everyone. He was a child who had no free day or time. He always had the ball in his hands. He would go at 06:00 in the morning before school to the range, shoot 500 shots and then go to school. Then he had two training sessions with his team. Drazen was a very hard worker and had a great career. He left a legacy behind him, a very big work and he is an example to all players, especially in Croatia, but also in the former Yugoslavia where he played for so many years.”

On whether players like Petrovic exist today: “I can’t answer with 100% accuracy. There are too many players today who are big talents and names. Because of the media and the internet we know and see them. Back then there wasn’t much of a chance to see a very big player. For me, my idol was Larry Bird, whom I only saw from some tapes. And Drazen who went to the NBA. There will always be players like Drazen and better. What Drazen had, however, few players have. He was regarded by many players around the world as one of the best shooters to ever come through the sport. Reggie Miller had said that Drazen is better than him. It’s a big thing for a player like that to say.”

On his new team, Al-Ittihad Jeddah: “I have said many times that wherever I am called and I see an opportunity to teach or do something like a coach, I will go and do it. Here in Saudi Arabia in recent years they have invested a lot in football, very big names have come to the country. What I liked is that in the last two years they have decided to invest in basketball as well. I believe that the country will do something similar with football very soon. To bring big names of coaches and players, so that the sport takes on very big dimensions, like in football”.