By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Maccabi Tel Aviv coach Giannis Sfairopoulos has put his faith and trust in NBA Draft prospect Deni Avdija this season and his development is more than obvious.
Avdija, 2001-born, is on to the third season of his professional career with Maccabi, the second one with Sfairopoulos on the bench.
“Deni is really talented. He is at an age where he is building his body, his mind and afterward his basketball,” Sfairoploulos tells euroleague.net. “He is a player who this year… will have a different and more important role on the team. Last year, I did not get a chance to work with him all the time because he was sometimes with the junior team and he had school… He was in and out of the main team. But this year, we have him exclusively on our main team and already he has started to play.”
Working with Sfairoploulos is a gift for Avdija, and vice versa. “I like to work with young players. I have always had young players in my previous teams,” Sfairoploulos said. The Greek coach has fostered numerous talents, including former EuroLeague champions Georgios Printezis and Panagiotis Vasilopoulos and All-EuroCup selections Kostas Vasileiadis and Loukas Mavrokefalidis.
“Because I started as a coach of small kids, I know how it is to work with young and inexperienced players,” Sfairoploulos explained. “[Deni] still needs a lot of improvement because he is young, which is normal. But he’s really talented and he’s a good learner and a hard worker. He has a big future ahead of him.”
Head to euroleague.net to check out the full feature on Avdija.
Photo credit: Maccabi Tel Aviv