Του Νίκου Βαρλά/ varlas@eurohoops.net
Ioannis Papapetrou was introduced to the broad basketball audience by his semifinal performance against CSKA. He was among the 2-3 key players who didn’t have the experience but he was a match for Andrei Kirilenko. Is he happy? Not yet…
“We got this win, but we already forgot about it. There’s only the final for us. Nobody remembers the second. The team which wins the cup makes history. We have to get it. Real is a big team, we lost three times last season on this court and that hurt us. It’s an extra motive”, said Giannis who will probably have to guard Rudy Fernandez.
He is quite a different player compared to Kirilenko, but “Pap” is ready. “Yes, I know how to guard Rudy and it’s much harder than guarding Kirilenko. I like to match up with players who need physicality in order to be stopped. I try to adapt to any opponent. And I have last season’s experience. I will do anything to stop them. The secret against those kind of players is to show them that you are tough”.
In 2012 an other “Pap”, Houston Rockets‘ Dimitris Papanikolaou made his name in the Euroleague final against Kirilenko. “Many of my teammates mentioned it. What can I say, it happens. He is a great player. I had motive and I was determined”.
Still there was an other great player who stole the show, Spanoulis with his last minutes crescento. Have he seen anything else like this from a teammate. “Νever! It was unbelievable! In order to get to this point the team worked a lot, Olympiacos demonstrated its character and its chemistry. Spanoulis is special case”.
Ηis father, Argiris Papapetrou, had a remarkable career as a player. As a member of Panathinaikos in 1994 he took part in the Final Four, but didn’t get to the final. “My father never played in a final. Let’s see what we will do now. He tries not to pressure me and he doesn’t talk much. He leaves this role to the coaches. He just says bravo, rest and let’s go on”.