Stavropoulos: “The investment of some Euroleague teams has gone astray – Armani’s goal is the playoffs”

Since 2019, when he left Olympiakos, Christos Stavropoulos works as a GM for the Armani Milan.

A few days before its start Euroleaguewas “hosted” in his air EOK WebRadio and spoke about the goals of the Italian team, the players that were acquired, the preparation, but also in general the Euroleague and the big one competition that exists in the organization.

What he said in detail:

To win the Italian Super Cup: “It’s a title that if you win it, everyone says, ‘Shut up, the Super Cup has been won’ and if you lose it, there are murmurs that something is wrong. It was a very beautiful game, between two historic Italian teams, which was decided in extra time. It is not a title that judges anything about the future, but it gives you a strength and a confidence that you are starting to work as a team well and it sends you some optimistic messages for the future. All the children enjoyed it, the atmosphere is very good, all the children have “bonded”. It was a nice night and the Super Cup is always a title.”

For the preparation: “After several years we had the opportunity to not have competitions, so that we could do a month’s preparation for all the players, which I don’t remember since when it has happened. This was very good for us, especially for a team with 8 new players. It was very important that we all work together, but we still have a lot of room for work and improvement.”

For this year’s goals: “In the Italian part, we have won 3 championships in a row, which is not easy at all. I believe that the Italian league is the best after the Spanish one. It’s very strong, very competitive, with teams that have big budgets, very good players, very developed scouting departments, who work very well at it. That we have achieved this is a sign that we have done a very good job. What we need to improve is the European part. After the Final-4 we participated in in Cologne, we want to return first of all to the Euroleague play-offs. That is our primary goal.”

For the team roster: “We changed the team a lot this year. We changed it as a structure. Because it’s clear that you don’t get anywhere unless you have a team with very strong physical and athletic qualities, we wanted to build something like this. I believe we have succeeded. Of course, time will tell. We brought in new guys, athletic. Maybe some guys don’t have the experience because it’s their first year in the EuroLeague, but there are others, like for example Bolmaro, who is 24 and has played for Barcelona, ​​Bayern, so he has EuroLeague experience. They are closely flanked by experienced players such as Mirotic, Shields, Ritchie. We have made a good chemistry and I think we will play beautiful basketball.”

On whether there is result pressure at Armani Milan: “Let me make something clear, there is always a lot of pressure in Milan. We are all… pressured to deliver the result. We are not relaxed at all. When you are part of a historic club like Milan, you always have only titles in front of you. There is no 2nd. There can be less pressure from off-field factors, which is not a bad thing, because you work more quietly, more calmly, more focused on what you have to do. There is also pressure for the Euroleague, so this year we want to be able to qualify for the play-offs and go as far as we can”.

On whether there is a basketball core of fans in the team: “There is a basketball world. Of course, in a city with two football giants like Inter Milan and Milan, getting into a “wedge” in sports is not easy. On the other hand, we have a very strong base. In recent years we have started with 4.5 thousand regulars and we have also increased the number of fans in our stadium. In the Euroleague, all our home games are sold-out. In Italy, even with “small” groups we have managed to gather 9-10 thousand people. Wherever we go in Italy, the stadiums are full and not only of Armani fans”.

For the team president, Giorgio Armani: “He is always close to the team, he never misses a game. He has also come to some away matches in Europe and Italy. He is always very discreet and lets the executives work in the best way, he trusts them. He is a very dynamic person and it is a great honor and pleasure to have the opportunity to work for such an organization and person.”

For the Euroleague: “Certainly the potential of the Euroleague is very great. The revenue we have right now doesn’t match the true momentum of the product, which is why there are discussions and a lot of interest from investors to invest in this product. On the other hand, as an event every year it becomes more difficult, the teams invest a lot. This year, the “investment” of some teams has escaped. The market has also changed a lot.

The “barrel” from which teams choose players has become very small because there are enough problems. There is the matter of the NBA, that with all the contracts, the players employed by both teams that will be added, the players coming from America to Europe are less. There is also the Japanese league in addition to China, which is on the rise. Finally, there is the college problem. This is a big problem more for the base of basketball in Europe.”