Zisis: “The door to the National is always open to everyone – the goal and the dream is a new success”

THE Nikos Zisis He was in the parquet of “D. Tofalos’ of Patras, during her fight Greece with Netherlands Yesterday (24/2) with a dual role.

Both as General Manager of the national who was fighting for his qualifiers Eurobasket 2025 as well as a member of the “golden” European champion in Eurobasket 2005 in Belgrade, honored in the halftime of the match against the Dutch.

The veteran guard was “hosted” in Eok webradio And he talked both about the awarding of the 2005 “golden” team, but also about the qualification of National in the great event of 2025.

In detail what he said:

For the 2005 team award: “It is always very pleasant to meet all this company together. In fact, it was the first time in a formal way. Although it was a short time we spent together, especially for us in the team, we were very happy. We also got the applause from the world. It is always very beautiful to be with people with whom you have written “history”.

About how she felt at that time: “My first thought was ‘we had a very good team in the end’. We are definitely talking about a team that consisted of very big players, characters, personalities and I think we had these results. Yesterday (24/02) we celebrated the 20th anniversary of the 2005 completion, but this team played 4-5 years together and came very close to getting gold medals again. It was a very strong “batch”, culminating in 2005 and 2006. For five years the team could have received more medals. It has been a five -year period that had a great run in the world. “

For all the players of that team left in basketball: “It is important and shows the connection and love that all these kids have with basketball. What dominates the minds of everyone or most is that basketball has given us so much that we need to give it back. Everyone “charts” their own path, his own course. The main thing for all of us is that we want to give back to basketball, to deal with Bakchet and to offer from our experience. This is something that makes me feel happy and creative. “

For its importance to be legends of Greek basketball in the National Team: “The most important thing is whether these children are inspired by seeing us. We were a team that had a lot of talent, but most importantly it was united. Each of us then put the “I” under the team. Everyone was “stars” in their teams, but when we were wearing the coat of arms, we only thought of victory. Panagiotis Giannakis was the most important man in uniting this team because of his own personality and leadership. He had done it as a player, so he didn’t have to say much to show the way. It is important to have this continuity in the national team. Ethniki is the team of all Greeks and this passes to the children. In these 6 qualifiers, 27 players competed to achieve this goal. As the coach has said, the door is always open to everyone. It is important for children to work, evolve and keep in mind that when they are in the National they will give it all for the good of the team, no matter how minutes they play. This mentality is going through. “

To prepare for Eurobasket 2025: “It’s far away. We are entering the final line of the season, but there is a lot of basketball still playing. We need to be patient and above all health. We have essentially completed our preparation for Eurobasket. Because I have been in this post for many years, the hardest summer was by far last year in terms of the organization and design of summer. This year we know dates. We knew we would go to Cyprus if we qualified, we believed we would do it, so only the announcements are left and only the announcements are left. “

For the atmosphere they are waiting for in Eurobasket: “It is very important for the Cypriots to be able to see the national team. We want to believe that it will be complete and consist of all its members. We are waiting for the world to hug us this summer. Of course we will also play with the National Cyprus who will try to be as competitive as possible. All this awaiting the draw, which we always consider to be secondary, since a team that has high goals should win the best. Step by step until we arrive at the end of July when our preparation will begin. “

For the cooperation of the National with the Associations: “There is different data each time, but there is always communication with the teams and we thank them for the availability of all players in the national team. For the good of Greek basketball it is very important for our teams to go well, because this, with the national team, can “take off” and “launch” the sport. It is something that is missing, something we all dream of and, above all, this “batch” of players that grow up and has achieved many things. They want a lot of success with National. That is the goal, that’s the dream. “