Manouselis: “Panathinaikos has a real All-Star team – Bet for Barzokas to manage cohesion”

The technical director of the academy of Proteas Voulas, Manos Manouseliswas “hosted” on EEC Web Radio and talked about Olympiakos and Panathinaikos’ progress in the Euroleague.

The former assistant coach for the “red and white” emphasized that the “eternal” are completely two different groups with huge potential to reach very highdespite any concerns that may exist at the start of the season.

At the same time, he expressed his opinion that the Euroleague it needs a renewal with something new, so that it does not lose its viewers.

In detail what he said:

For the latest results of the two “eternal” teams in the Euroleague: “Given that we are at the beginning of the season, I don’t think there will be anything that should cause such a big surprise. Neither the fact that Panathinaikos lost to Paris, which is a debutant in the Euroleague and is obviously the biggest victory in its history, nor that Olympiacos, which has played two mediocre attacking matches, easily beat Milan. The Euroleague is a “marathon”, not a road race, so you have to sprint to the end to win. This is all part of the process.”

For the image of the two “eternals” at the beginning of the season: “For me, it is wrong to compare Panathinaikos with Olympiakos based on the results they have, while they play with different teams. They are two different teams, with completely different styles and approaches to the game. It may seem that Olympiacos has more consistency and that what it does is perhaps more clear and effective in the eye of the beholder, but, on the other hand, we are talking about the European champions. Discussing whether a team plays 1-2 matches that does not have the image that one would expect, is pointless.

Panathinaikos has a true All-Star team. The fact that Slukas and Lorenzo can play in the five, who would comfortably play 40” if they wanted to in any Euroleague team, says something. There is no cause for concern in the image of Panathinaikos, we have seen this before, that a team is “built” through the games. The teams don’t do a lot of training as the format is. We should expect, especially at the beginning of the season, such things. By the same logic, the image of Olympiakos in the previous games should not be a problem either, where we also had some concern, in the sense that the team did not play well, while the two main tall players were missing”.

For Panathinaikos’ away match against Real Madrid (17/10): “I don’t think the picture will change much. Real-Panathinaikos is in itself a motivation for everyone, because they know that all of Greece is interested in this match. I believe that even the bad performances from which Panathinaikos comes will be a “bell” for the players individually to play better and give their all. Real have the problem that they have made a bad start and there is a lot of pressure on the coach. It will be a really interesting match.”

For Olympiakos’ game against Efes Anatolou in Istanbul (18/10): “Things are simpler here. The most important part is how Bartzokas will manage the roster he has, because every time he has to leave guys with long contracts on the bench. Managing the cohesion of the team will be a very big gamble for him all year. In this sense, every match will have its interest”.

For this year’s Euroleague: “It is clear that the two Spanish teams are having difficulties in managing the changes that have been made to their roster. Real has always had a “deep” roster and it has always been difficult at the beginning of the season to play the basketball it could play. In previous years there was a problem with Matteo being accepted by the public of the team as capable of leading it and there was a problem with his material and management.

We could say that the general picture of the Euroleague, in every season, has teams that come from behind and create “noise”. The image of Paris on Tuesday (15/10) and Ataman’s statements that he is playing a basketball that he has seen for the first time in years, is something very nice. The Euroleague needs new “blood”. Seeing the same players, even with different jerseys, and trying to “sell” it as something new, is like “reheated food”. I don’t know how interesting it is to people.”