THE Red Star has been in our country since yesterday evening for today’s (10/09, 18:00) friendly preparation behind closed doors with Olympic.
In the context of the visit of the Serbs, the assistant of Yannis Sfairopoulos, Vassilis Geragotellishad the opportunity to be hosted at EEC WebRadiotalking about many topics.
Among other things, he mentioned Red Star’s interest in him Philip Petrushevclarifying that since the golden ratio was not found between the two teams, the Serbian forward has not employed the team again.
In detail what he said:
For today’s friendly against Olympiakos: “We will have the absence of Nedovic and Teodosic. We have a roster of 16 players and 2 are missing. It’s a match we want to draw conclusions from. It is our strongest friendly, the fourth. We know that Olympiacos will have a lot of absences, but we treat it as the strongest friendly we have played so far. It is the only friendly we will play with a EuroLeague team until the start of the season.
For us it is a test that we want to see how we will respond. We are trying to “build” a new team, make a new beginning. We kept a significant core compared to last year, but we also brought in star and very experienced players from the EuroLeague. We are currently working on getting this set as ready as possible».
In the case of Philip Petrusev: “In fact, he occupied us during the summer when we were “building” the roster. From then on, from the moment when the golden ratio was not found to come to us, either normally or on loan, we have not been concerned about the issue again. We think it’s something that if it happened it would be an additional addition and option. We’re not thinking about it at all at the moment, we’re trying to get the team ready without the Petrusef thing in mind at all».
For the goals of the new season: “This year is different. We start from the beginning of the season, we are the ones who made the choices in terms of players and built the roster as best as we could. Certainly the goal remains to win the Adriatic League, the Serbian league and the Cup, but the main goal of the team is to be in the EuroLeague play-offs.
As you know, the same goal existed last year as well, but we did not manage to achieve it. During the year we were close, in 10th-11th place, we were trying to have a place in the play-ins. In the last few games, especially with the defeats against Barcelona and Zalgiris, we lost any chance, so it was a goal that did not materialize. There was an increase in the budget both last year and this year and that’s why our goals are higher. All this, of course, increases the expectations and pressure on the team, but that’s the championship and I’m glad to be in a team that does this kind of championship».
On whether last year’s failure within the borders played a role in the significant strengthening of Partizan: “That was also a reason. The derbies in Serbia are just like in Greece. It’s something that obviously made them completely change the roster and go to something completely new and different compared to last season. I try not to think so much about what other people are doing. I want to believe that we have built a strong team, which if performed as we want, we could achieve our goals. Right now we’re focused on what we’re doing and how we’re going to perform as well as possible».
On the acquisition of Davis Bertans from their Adriatic League premiership rivals Dubai BC BC (9/20): “It looks like they are building a team that will be quite competitive. They had already made some good moves, but now with the arrival of Bertans their goals are set even higher and they will come out even stronger».
For the transfer support of Panathinaikos and Olympiakos: “First of all, I’m happy to see it. I love to see teams invest money in getting the best players possible so they can go even higher. Both teams are already at a very high level and in this way there is a healthy competition which looks set to make them even stronger.
After last year, Panathinaikos has the difficult task of repeating. Olympiacos keeps its goals in the same way, investing and bringing in high value, monetary and basketball players. For me, that can only be good. There were times when it was sad that the two best teams in Greece were not at the level to compete with the budgets of the rest of the European teams. Now it seems both are higher and that’s good for all of us. Everyone considers them favorites, they are considered among the 5-6 teams that will claim the EuroLeague this year».
For the new season’s EuroLeague: “I don’t think we will see anything different. Last year we saw the most competitive and interesting Euroleague of all time I think. I believe that something similar will happen this year as well. All matches will matter, home advantage and next stage places will be decided on ties and differences. And the same for the teams. I think it will be interesting to see how the big Euroleague clubs will be this year. For example, I would like to see how Ephesus will be this year, which was not so high last year.
I would like to see Milan who have very quality players and could not do anything good last year. At the same time, the classic strong teams, apart from ours, such as Fenerbahce, Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Monaco. It is a very strong league. If the games don’t start and we don’t see specific samples of the teams, we can’t draw clear conclusions. For me, the rule is always that, probably, a group of those that we consider very high will not be there and a group of those that we think will not be high, will be.”
For the new season’s Basket League: “I think it shows great balance. It seems that some teams have lost some of their potential and some others that were less strong are coming up higher. It looks like it will be very competitive. I think we will see a very interesting championship. I personally wish PAOK the best of luck, because there is a dear friend of mine, Stelios Kalyvas, on the staff this year, and I really want to see PAOK do as well as possible».
For the evening dedicated to George Printezis: “It was my great pleasure and honor to be invited to this event. I had George during my 4 years at Olympiakos. For me, the uniqueness of the Printezis phenomenon lies in the fact that, while he was loved and “tied” so much to Olympiakos, at the same time he had the respect and acceptance of everyone else. This is something unique, I don’t remember anything like it in the past and I don’t know if there will be anything like it in the future. Giorgos managed to be loved by almost everyone over the years and this is a very big example for everyone, how we can keep an attitude such that even our opponents admit our worth».
About the humor of Giorgos Printezis: “For me, apart from his great talent, I especially remember his ability to balance things within the team. When there was a pressure in the team, Giorgos with his humor, the attitude he had, could and did remove it from everyone».
For the moment he remembers with Giorgos Printezis: “In addition to these 4 years at Olympiakos, I also had him for 4 more at the National Team. There are too many. One I remember is from there. George and I, apart from the basketball part, we like to have fun. We prepared with the National Team, in which I teased him 2-3 times and “challenged” him, but he was quiet and did not react. At some point we are going to play at ”Acropolis”.
Then the team’s gymnast, Yiannis Merikhovitis, had obligations with his team in Spain and had to leave. So, I was at OAKA the one who warmed up the team. Giorgos, therefore, had put someone in the stands and started shouting at me. During the warm-up no one was shouting anything at anyone, but someone could be heard shouting just for me. He said, “Geragotelli, you are for the NBA! Geragotelli, you are the best of all!”
We all burst out laughing. Characteristic of this was that Vassilis Spanoulis, who was serious all his life and I have never seen him in the warm-up of any match not being serious, was running and burst out laughing. This was an incident that makes you understand what George Printezis means».
Source: Sport Fm
I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
