By Dionysis Aravantinos / info@eurohoops.net
Minutes after Rick Pitino’s first Turkish Airlines EuroLeague win with Panathinaikos OPAP Athens, the 66-year old coach was asked about the fans and his answer simply said it all.
“The fans were awesome”, said coach Pitino. “It reminded me of being back home at Kentucky, and that’s the highest compliment I can give the fans. And that’s because Kentucky has the greatest fans in the States”.
In the press conference after the game, Rick Pitino shared a unique story he told the Panathinaikos‘ players about the Boston Celtics and Bill Russell’s locker-room talk:
“I told my players a couple of stories. One story I told them was about Bill Russell and what he told my Boston Celtics team. Bill was an hour late because of traffic. So when he arrived, he looked at the guys because they were not playing hard enough and were looking out for their individual stats. Losing is like a cancer, it spreads and players start playing for themselves. And so Bill wouldn’t call any of the players by their name, just by their numbers. So he looked at number 7 (Kenny Anderson) and said: “Number 7 here, does not look like Bob Cousy. He holds the ball and the last second he tries to pass it, because he wants the assist.”
Then, he looked at number 4 (Tony Battie) and said, “Number 4 is like me. A shot blocker. But once he blocks a shot, he yells, I never yelled. Somebody needs to tell number 4 that it’s still the other team’s ball.” Then, he looked at number 34 (Paul Pierce) and said: “You remind me of John Havlicek. You are a great rookie. You steal the ball, you go on and dunk it but after you dunk it you know exactly where the camera is. Havlicek would never do that. He then pointed at number 8 (Antoine Walker). “I played with guys like number 8”, said Russell. “He’s not going to stop shooting. It’s up to the rest of you guys to make sure he takes good shots.” Finally, he pointed at the last guy, Vitaly Potapenko, the Ukrainian train and says: “You don’t trust Americans do you? I’d always get the rebound and before I hit the ground, I would outlet it for a break. You get the rebound and you sway your arms, because you don’t think the statistician will mark the rebound.
Finally, he (Bill Russell) said the following, just 15 minutes before the game-time: “Ego is about edging greatness out. I never tried to outscore Wilt Chamberlain, I tried to win the game. Celtics win, I’m happy, Celtics lose I’m upset. But, I’m different than you. I won 56 straight college games and two national championships. Then I won an Olympic medal, and 11 NBA titles. But then again guys, I’m Bill Russell and you’re not.” And then he walked out.
And the reason why Rick Pitino told this story to the Panathinaikos’ players, was the following: ” I want you to play as if you are in a one-day contract. You have one day to perform. And at the end of the night, I want you to look in the mirror and you decide whether you get your contract renewed.”
Besides, he also talked about Panathinaikos’ latest shooting slump: “I told them that everybody says you can’t shoot. But that’s not the problem. I said that the problem is that you don’t pass. If you get ball movement and constantly pass the basketball you will outshoot them. It’s not the shooting woes, it is the passing woes. I don’t know what they pay Nick Calathes, but he is worth every penny he is making”.
Panathinaikos’ newest coach, took this job, because he wants to learn:”30 years ago I coached the New York Knicks. And the style of basketball then, reminds me of the European basketball today. It’s very physical. Lots of spacing and isolations. When I coached the Purto Rico national team, I learned so many things about basketball. I don’t want to ever stop learning. The assistant coaches tonight outstanding, and generally, it is a different style of basketball. When you stop learing, you have to stop coaching. I’m very impressed by EuroLeague basketball.”
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