Goose: “The Misic case has not been closed for Hapoel Tel Aviv – talks with many colleges”

Open remain for the Hapoel Tel Aviv his case Vasilie Misicallegedly concerned with the Olympicas the Greek General Manager of the group stated, George Genin.

“He is a great player, a Euroleague legend and one of the best of all time. We talked to him at the end of March and early April. We did not reach an agreement then, but we stayed in contact with him and his agenda. What the Spanish media mentioned – that it rejected us because of the war – is not true. We kept talking. Mr. Yanai even met with him in Abu Dhabi. Nothing is still sure. It is one of the players we are interested in, but so does other clubs. This is how the offseason works – he talks to many clubs and we are talking to many players. His case has not been closed“, He told Basketball Sphere.

“It is not easy to convince the players. We will not play Euroleague matches in Israel, but we have other advantages. There is the coach Itoudis, Mr. Yanai is a very ambitious owner and will do whatever he needs to win. The fact is that we are building a competitive roster and we do not want to be just another Euroleague team. We are trying to consolidate the Euroleague and it will take time. There are larger groups with larger budgets. But I’m sure we’ll have a very competitive team“, He added.

He also referred to the decision to go to Hapoel after many years to AEK. “The transition was very easy because I come from a club that also has high standards. AEK, like Hapoel Tel Aviv, is very competitive, has a large basis of fans and is under a lot of pressure. I like to work under pressure and that’s something I wanted. I had offers from clubs in other countries, but my goal was to go somewhere with ambition and expectations to win titles. After talking to President Ofer Yanai, I saw how ambitious he is, what his vision is and what kind of team he wants“, He stressed.

“Of course, you can’t predict how the season will go – many players play a role – but the plan was to build a quality team. The hardest part was not to be able to play our home games for Eurocup in Tel Aviv. Practically we lived on a plane -this was our home. We traveled a lot. We hosted in Samokov and although it was a different country, we started to feel at home. That’s why we managed to win Eurocup — it is something unforgettable“, He added.

At the same time, he focused on the recruitment of Dimitris Itoudis in the middle of the season. “I met Itoudis in Athens and it was a difficult situation because he was already in talks with two Euroleague teams. Both of these teams later changed coaches, so it could end there. It was not easy to draw his attention. I explained to him the whole project. He realized that our goal was to play at Euroleague and saw that we were building something important. We talked a lot. He was interested in many details. I remember taking notes in six or seven pages at our first meeting -we were talking for three hours. He wrote almost everything. This is its level. This makes him stand out. Every day is a new challenge for him. He doesn’t care about the past -only the future, how to improve and get better. He raised the club to its level. We started operating as a EuroLeague club, even though we were at the Eurocup. When he came, we knew he would lead us to success“, He said.

He also referred to AEK’s successful year. “A great season, if you think that in Greece you can’t end higher than Panathinaikos and Olympiacos. Of course, the team exceeded the expectations of the FIBA ​​Champions League -not only with the Final 4, but by finding it in the first place that is not an easy achievement. I hope the next season is on the same level”

Finally, he remembered Kevin Panther’s transfer to AEK in the 2017/18 season. “It was a unique moment. We were in a difficult situation – early February – we were looking for a shooting guard, and in seven days the Greek Cup final with Olympiacos came. We were not in a good position in the FIBA ​​Champions League either. We chose between Jordan Crawford and Pader. When I talked to Kevin, I realized that he was on the rise. I talked to Antwerp and Lavrio and got the confirmation that he was a quality man, a great guy and a hard worker. For me, the motivation is everything, and it was motivated to prove that he was one of the best players in Europe and that he could succeed with AEK. I talked to the owner and coach Dragan Sakota. Maybe most people would choose a name from the NBA at that time, but we chose Kevin. Things have evolved positively for both sides. He deserved everything that happened in his career then“