By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
The season is about to start, so in Madrid and in Athens the media had the chance to meet the players of Real and Panathinaikos. The Greens have a brand new roster with less star power than ever in the last decade and they were very careful in their words. On the contrary, Rudy Fernandez of Real Madrid wasn’t shy.
“I want to win everything”, he said upon his return to Europe and clarified that if he had to chose one trophy, then that would be “Euroleague, because the competition there is bigger and it’s a league in which I have played only for one season with Juventud Badalona and also some games last year with Real, during the NBA lock out”.
After all, according to Rudy, Real has the pieces to succeed: “I am a little tired of having the spotlight constantly on me, because we also have eleven more player in our roster who can take over any game”.
In Athens the scenery was completely different. Coach Argiris Pedoulakis (photo) needs time: “We need two to three months after the start of our training camp in order to become a unit. We are still working on that. Today is the first day with a full roster in our practice, because Ukic was absent due to his participation with Croatia in the Eurobasket 2013 qualifying round. I can handle the pressure because I am kind of old and experienced. However, the fans should be careful and not add any extra pressure to the team”.
Sofoklis Shortsanitis added: “We are a new team. I don’t want to set any goals. We are going to be a competitive team. A hard season awaits us, but with a lot of work we will prevail”. Sofo was asked how is he going to feel when he will return to Olympiacos‘ gym as a member of the Greens and his answer was: “I am not thinking about it. I am a player of Panathinaikos, I am doing my job and I don’t have to prove anything”.
Andy Panko, last season’s MVP of Spanish ACB league, and new member of Panathinaikos had also something to say about Olympiacos: “They are Greek and Euroleague champions, so everybody wants to beat them. It will be an extra motive for us”.