By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The upcoming season will be quite a bit different for Olympiacos and there’s a simple reason for it – Vassilis Spanoulis won’t be present on the floor after a decade wearing the red-and-white jersey.
Georgios Printezis will feel that the most among players as he was with Spanoulis every step of the way since 2011 and he admitted so as well in his talk to Eurohoops’s Vangelis Ioannou. He won’t shy away from taking over the responsibility.
“It is a strange year due to the absence of Vassilis. Responsibilities are something I always liked, I have no issue with it. After years, the core has been kept, there is homogeneity and a larger base of players, and there were fewer transfers,” he said and also agreed that retiring Spanoulis’s jersey would, without question, be the right move.
“Of course this should be done for Vassilis. I think that the fans want it and the team wants it very much. To take it a little upside down, think how strange it would seem to see another player with the number seven playing at Olympiacos.”
Printezis also explained how it feels for him personally with Spanoulis not around.
“It is a bit difficult, especially for us who have lived through thousands of moments with him. We saw him everywhere, we spent a lot of time with him. He may have finished his basketball cycle, but he remains a good friend. It is difficult because Vassilis brought a winning mentality. He was a leading figure who captivated many with him. All good things come to an end and all circles close. It is wrong for a player to identify with Vassilis. Each player has his own personality,” he noted.