By Stathis Trapezanlidis/ info@eurohoops.net
The heir of David Blatt, coach Guy Goodes, speaks about the high goals of the defending champions, the challenge of being a head coach, Pini Gherson, Blatt in the NBA and also about Big Sofo’s situation. Eurohoops met him in Berlin after the road win over Alba and het’s what he had to say.
– Coach, you are so many years in the team so that means no adaptation problems in a such a difficult but interesting job. Is it a great opportunity and challenge to be the coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv ?
“Ι was next to some of the greatest coaches all those years in Maccabi Tel Aviv, last year also with David Blatt one of the greatest coaches. I was also a player of the team. I know what it means to be in Maccabi, I know what means to lead this team and how big the challenge is to lead it to success. But I can say that I am happy because I have also here Pini Gershon, a great coach who helps me a lot with his experience and we work together extremely well. And you know, the bottom line is always to win the games”.
– All those years Maccabi has the same playing style. It’s a fast paced, attractive basketball. Full of energy, a lot of American players, some times a more free style than other European teams. What can we expect this season?
“More or less is the same because I was here last season with coach Blatt and it was a successful season. What I am saying is that when something is not broken, you don t need to fix it. We are going to play a lot of pressing defense, a lot of mixed defenses, match up zones, zones, man to man, switching, a lot of things we did the last years and things we believe in. In offense for sure sometimes it’s going to be more free style as you said, trying to get advantage of our athletic players and their one on one ability. Maccabi is not like this just in recent years. It’s about 40 years of history. It is a club with its own identity like Olympiakos, Panathinaikos, Real Madrid, Barcelona and usually it has the same playing style”.
– Maccabi Tel Aviv is one of the few teams that every season doesn’t afraid to say “we don’t care about our roster, we are Maccabi and our target is always the Euroleague Final Four”…
“Of course the target is the Euroleague Final Four. It doesn’t matter who the coach is, or the players. Τhe character of the club is to aim to the top, even if it doesn’t have the biggest budget or the biggest talents in its roster. It is a club that always fights, looks in the eyes every opponent and tries to beat them”.
– A lot of people say that Maccabi followed Olympiakos’ style because of its really amazing seasons in Euroleague. Do you agree with this opinion?
“It looks like this. It’s funny because the last season we were talking about it. Two years ago Οlympiakos might be not the most talented team in Europe, but when this team went to the Final Four they beat better teams. I think that was also the character of the club and the players, who were in the team. Especially, Spanoulis, who is the leader of this team. You know maybe last season was a copy paste of these two years before”.
– Do you think that Olympiakos changed also a little bit the philosophy of basketball in Europe?
“Yes you could say this. They showed to everyone that you can build a really good team which can win the championship without the biggest budget and the best players. In addition, less big men, more athletic big men, a lot of pick and rolls are some of the changes”.
– I would like one comment about David Blatt and his new challenge. Had he ever discussed before with you this possibility?
“I didn’t know but maybe it was in his mind. The time I knew it was after the last game for the championship, when he announced it to the coaching stuff. Nobody knew. And he told us “Listen guys I am leaving. I am going to the NBA. Please take care of the guys, they are my family. Help the team to succeed”. It was a very emotional moment and also for me because of the last seasons, in planes, in hotels. we spent a lot of time together and he is like my brother. I believe in him because he knows how to take from all people around him the best”.
– Do you think that he needs to change a little bit his style or he could keep it because that’s why they choose him?
“You need to adjust. NBA is a player’s league and Europe is a coaches’ league. In NBA the player dominates and you need to be with them. I know that David can change things, has a lot of basketball in his team and he can bring a lot of European style to the NBA. With this talented team and sometimes European style, I think that there is no limit for this team”.
– Sofoklis Schortsanitis is back and he is a key player for your team. A lot of things were written at the beginning of the season about his health and his contract. What’s your opinion?
“Sofoklis is a very important player for us. He is more than a player for our fans. There is an emotional bond between the two sides and it’s easy to understand it if you are in Nokia Arena. They always support him and now they are very happy because he is back. We are Maccabi and we did what we needed to do. We were also upset about his health. But there were no thoughts about his future in the team. Sofoklis is an important player for us and we are really happy we have him back”.