By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
Patric Young made an impressive start to the season as an Olympiacos player in the Euroleague, claiming the MVP award for his performance in the match against Cedevita and shows that he is hungry for more. In an interview with Eurohoops.net, he said he has great motivation for earning titles with Olympiacos.
The 25-year-old American center had 16 points, six rebounds, four blocks, two assists and two steals in his return to the Euroleague, reminding to everybody that he has a great potential. Although he still lacks experience in playing at the top level of the European basketball, as he has only played for six months in Galatasaray, he is determined to succeed.
As a matter of fact, he only cares about that. He doesn’t even care about the money. Even if in the summer, he delayed his contract signing with Olympiacos due to Greece’s financial crisis and the capital controls’ enforcement.
Now, he is a well-known player in the Euroleague. How did he respond, though, to this challenge before signing with Galatasaray?
“I was unknown at this point, however I was playing with confidence. I wouldn’t sign with Galatasaray if they didn’t play in the Euroleague. I wanted to play, I was impatient to play and I was happy. Especially when I met Carlos Arroyo, an exceptional passer, my life became much easier,” he said about his presence in Turkey, which weren’t so comfortable, as Galatasaray faced many financial issues.
“It was a great opportunity for me to play in the Euroleague, even as a member of a team which is not of the top level. And as a result, I got better and took another great opportunity, namely to play for Olympiacos. You truly become more mature, you learn to play better and you have the chance to become professional, especially when the team operates in a professional way. But, you should not be in a negative mood, you shouldn’t complain. Every time you play, you should be professional, get the job done and not pay attention to anything else. I didn’t handle the situation in the right way last year, however I can say I was successful overall.”
Was this the hard way to learn to play professional basketball in Europe?
“Unfortunately, yes. They still owe me money. I lost my concentration last year, however I learned that the money come and go. What I really want this year is to help Olympiacos to win trophies.”
How was your co-operation with coach Ataman? Was he very different from what you had got used to in the USA?
“I don’t know what to say about Ataman, He is either a jenius or doesn’t care about anything. But, I don’t know. I think he was a very good person, but we had no communication. I couldn’t understand his method. His tactics were confusing for me, so I started creating motivation for myself. I thanked him, though, for giving me that opportunity.”
Does coach Sfairopoulos have a different philosophy?
“He is very demanding, he has shown me what my role is, what he wants me to do and shows me everything many times in order to fully understand it. We repeat the same things until we fully understand them. He pays great attention to details.”
In Olympiacos, do you have your own motivation or does the team create it for you as well?
“My incentive is to get better all the time, to help the team in any way possible and to win all the time. My biggest motivation is my thirst for victory.”
Having lived in two of Europe’s biggest cities, which of the two do you like the most? Athens or Istanbul?
“I like that in Athens there is not as much traffic as in Istanbul. Things in Greece are a bit more expensive, though, and the food is as delicious as in Turkey.”