By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
Giorgi Shermadini has already one Euroleague title under his belt. To be honest, though, in 2009 he was just an auxiliary player for Panathnaikos with very limited minutes in a very limited number of games. This is the past. The center from Georgia after a very good season in Cantu is ready for the biggest step in his career yet, a contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv where he could be something more than a role player. He talks about this for the first time, exclusively on Eurohoops.
-Did you expect to have such an offer by a team like Maccabi so early, before even the beginning of the summer?
“I knew I was a free agent this summer so of course I expected a new contract but not so early”.
-Have you talked already with coach Blatt? Has he explained you what does he need?
“Not yet. I’m looking forward to meet him in person. I’m very glad that he’ll be my coach. I like his temperance and insight. He is a phenomenal coach”.
-What are your expectations in Tel Aviv? What’s your biggest dream?
“I want to win the 6th Euroleague title for Maccabi and second for me. That’s my dream and goal”.
-The pressure in Maccabi for results is huge. Have you started… lessons to overcome it? Have you talked with any player of Maccabi to get advices?
“It’s normal. There should be a pressure. I think I had enough lessons to deal with pressure during last 4 years of my career”.
-As an opponent you have played in Nokia Arena. Have you felt that is one of the… hottest courts to play?
“Definitely. Atmosphere at Nokia Arena is very unique”.
-Your career abroad started in Panathinaikos, a team that you had the opportunity to win trophies but not to play so much. The biggest gain of your days in Athens was the experience you got next to centers like Batiste, Pekovic etc.?
“Working out with one of the best coaching stuff along with stars definitely made me better. I like Panathinaikos and I have a lot of very nice memories from this team. A lot of friends, great coaches Obradovic and Itoudis who did their best for my development, great GM Manos Papadopoulos who has been very professional and attentive to me all the time. PAO was a big experience for me in general. It was like a one big family for me headed by very special and great people like Thanassis and Pavlos Giannakopoulos and I’m really proud that I have been a member of it. I’ve recently heard that Giannakopoulos family is staying with Panathinaikos and I was very glad to hear that such a team will not be just a part of the history”.
-Do you think that if you had the chance to play now in Panathinaikos, you could have a bigger role in the team? Did you have during last summer in your mind the idea to prove that you deserved a place in ex champions of Europe?
“Maybe I could. Never thought of this to be honest. It’s not about proving that I deserve the place in certain team. Besides basketball, there are a lot of other things that really affects the relationship of a player and a team. I’m very glad for everything that Panathinaikos did for my development as a player and as a person”.
-Also at the start of this season few people expected of you to be one of the best centers in Euroleague and play with Cantu in Top16. Do you feel that from now on everybody will expect you to play in high level and the opponents will be harder against you?
“Bennet Cantu was a very good experience for me. Andrea Trinchieri is a great person and a great coach and I think he’ll be one of the Top 3 coaches of the Euroleague in a next years. I think that my move to play for Maccabi T.A. for the next season is a forward step in my career. I think that opponents will be harder against me if I’ll play hard against them. So I think that answer is yes, definitely”.
-This year you had an excellent season in Cantu but at the end you were injured and missed the play offs. Do you think that without that if you were healthy, you would have the chance to go deeper in the play offs as team?
“I wasn’t not only player who was injured in Cantu. Unfortunately, Scekic and Micov were also suffering injuries so in general it really effected our team. Unfortunately, this season we missed some luck otherwise I think we could achieve even more but despite of that I’m very happy and proud of this season with Bennet Cantu”.