Writing from Berlin: Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
Dimitris Itoudis beat his former head coach Zeljko Obradovic and led CSKA Moscow to its 7th Euroleague title.
It doesn’t get much better than that, as he admitted: “I don’t have many words to say. I am very happy being part of such a great organization and bringing all together that European title that everybody was expecting. Sometimes life is writing some scenarios that are amazing. But I’m very happy because in this Final Four, we had people who reached the Final Four for the first time, they reached the final for the first time and they became European champion for the first time. I hope and wish for them and the rest that it was not their last, but rather many of those in the future”.
This was a final to remember: “About the game, we started very well. We were dominant. We managed in the third quarter to stay focused and alert despite the fact that Fenerbahce were pressuring. We said they were a great team. They managed to tie the game and overcome in overtime. The fire was there for my players. And I’m very proud for them. They managed to handle all their emotions. We stayed calm, we stayed together, we tried to find the right way to attack. And finally they deserve all the glory. They wrote history. The history is written because, if this exists, I don’t know, bad luck, this stuff and superstitions. The way this happened, the way we won that title, and especially with some players who were in Final Fours and lost the title in clutch moments, now they have won it. They have my respect, my love and I’m ready to give everything to them”.
Speaking about his special relationship with Zeljko Obradovic, he explained: “I wouldn’t be here if it was not for Zeljko and Panathinaikos. I said I know how hard it is. I knew that one would win. It was CSKA and my staff. But he had a big, big, big, big part of what we have won. I felt that I had to say that to Zeljko. I thank him from my heart. Fenerbahce is probably dissapointed about the result and I don’t want to make any comment about what they said. I have the outmost respect for the club and Zeljko”.
And when he was asked about the “Final Four ghosts” of CSKA, he reacted: “That was a basketball game, goddammit. That’s a basketball game between two great clubs and great players. Yes a lot of things happened during the fourth quarter. They came back and took the lead. But we were calm. We showed that to the players. We told them to do and trust what we had done all season, why we were successful and why so many of you said we were the favorite because we were playing attractive and good basketball that the majority of people liked. So let’s do so. We managed to control it, we managed to tie it, go into overtime. But despite the fact that they had a big three, get the lead. We were going possession by possession and got the victory.”