Reporting from Istanbul: Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
The 32 years old forward who plays for EuroLeague powerhouse Olympiacos explained that even if he would like to play again for the Greek national team, he will not be able to do so.
The games for the upcoming FIBA World Cup qualifiers are scheduled almost the same days with the EuroLeague games, the season in Europe is more than long and Printezis explained that this makes it impossible for an athlete to play also for the national team: “It would be my joy to be part of the national team for as long as I can. Still, with the current EuroLeague schedule, which is very different compared to the NBA because we don’t get to rest for three or four months, I don’t know if I will have this chance again. I hope to be able to help the national team again. However, with this schedule, with 60 or 70 games every year and so many trips around Europe, with the Greek League finals ending at mid-June and the training camp of the national team starting in less than a month, I think it’s impossible to cope with the national team. And that applies to every player, not only to those over 30 years of age”.
Many EuroLeague players have complained publicly about not having enough time to rest and work on their game. Printezis explained what’s wrong: “It’s something that we know very well, we want a solution to be found. The issue is not that the athletes want two or three months in order to rest. We need to work on our game and get better. We need to work on our body. The NBA athletes have the ability to do so, we don’t if we have to play for the national teams”.
The bottom line is simple: Even if Printezis would like to play for the Greek national team, he just won’t be able to do it: “I want very much to play again for the national team, but I don’t know if this will happen”.
(Photo credit: FIBA)