By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Nick Calathes was officially introduced today (July 10) as a Barcelona player and he talked about the upcoming challenges, the team as well as the coach.
Early on in his career, Calathes had a chance to play with Sarunas Jasikevicius for Panathinaikos and the former admitted that he didn’t really take Saras’ ‘mentorship’ positively at first:
“Playing with Mirotic, Davies or Higgins is very easy for a point guard and even more so with a coach like Sarunas Jasikevicius. During my first stage at Panathinaikos, I met him as a player and I hated him because he was yelling at me a lot. I was only 20 years old and I did not realize that he was trying to help me and make me better as a player. Later, I understood him and we became very close. The truth is that he is one of the best coaches there is today and I am sure he will bring a new mindset to Barça,” he said, per AS.
The 2011 EuroLeague champion noted that moving and playing in a foreign country is an additional challenge but he’s certain that he’ll fit in with the squad without any issues:
“Without a doubt getting to Barça is the main challenge of my career. I have played in Greece and with the Greek team and coming to play in another country is also a challenge. Seeing the squad and knowing the coach I think I will fit in well and it will be easy for me.”