By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
In this season’s last episode of ‘A quarter with Kyle Hines,’ the head coach of Fenerbahce Beko spoke about many topics, including his decision to leave CSKA Moscow after eight years and two EuroLeague titles and join Fenerbahce Beko.
“It was not an easy decision. I had one more year in Moscow before the war started, and I sat down with Andrey Vatutin, with whom I created a relationship on a human level, and we talked about the future. I said I had an offer and wanted to take that challenge. I’m proud that I’m leading this new group of people,” Itoudis said.
His debut season in Istanbul had a lot of ups and downs, but eventually, they made it to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague playoffs and are tied with Olympiacos Piraes after two games in Greece.
“Unfortunately, we had a lot of injuries, and that is something we need to analyze, but having 30.000.000 passionate fans or more… They want to see the team fighting but understand that this is a process and that nothing can happen overnight. You need to fall, probably seven times, but stand up the eight time and fight it again. Fall forward is my motto. I’m happy with the progress. We have a lot of pressure, which is going into positive stress needed in this job. There’s more to come, and I hope this is a new chapter.”
Itoudis also spoke to Hines about his beginnings and the coaches that had the biggest influence on his career.
“Dusan Ivkovic was one of my mentors, and I can say, my basketball father. I had the privilege to spend many years with him and his family and know him from out of the court, which is most important, got a lot of lessons as I was growing up, and I had the privilege to share a lot of moments with him. I have learned and taken my lessons of what kind of a passion Dusan had at the age of 73. I think I can now publicly say there were moments when Dusan said it was his last year, which was ten years before he retired. When you see Dusan playing defense on the court, a passion he had, you knew you had to have more as a younger coach.”
Of course, Zeljko Obradovic also greatly impacted the Greek coach, as they spent 13 seasons together in Panathinaikos Athens, winning five EuroLeague titles.
“Working with Zeljko Obradovic for 13 years in Panathinaikos, we established something that you couldn’t find in the world of sports. Let’s say the duo, coaching staff, staying in a competitive league in a highly demanding environment as Panathinaikos was for so many years.”
An interesting question occurred – What skill would Dimitris Itoudis like to have as a player?
“I would like the intelligence of the point guard and that combination of the mid-range, long-range shooting, and good passing abilities, but always with a great base of playing defense. And I would need to go out there and compete. With myself, the potential that I have…“.
One of the most successful European coaches also has a routine before his matches that he can’t start the games without.
“The non-negotiable thing is that I’m gonna call my wife and my daughter wherever they are, 16-17 minutes before I go; I gotta have that last call“, Itoudis revealed.