By Giannis Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
“I still haven’t realized the season that Panathinaikos had last year”. Kostas Sloukas admitted to Eurohoops that getting the EuroLeague title with Panathinaikos, his fourth after winning two with Olympiacos and one with Fenerbahce was a dream-like season.
However, the champs are ready for more.
As Sloukas stated: “What’s interesting now is the present. We have the same ambitions and goals, and I can say that our team is better than last year.”
With Panathinaikos returning to glory, Sloukas was at the center of it, taking the big decision to leave Olympiacos for the Greens and getting vindicated, by winning the championship trophy both in the EuroLeague and the Greek League.
However, this also made him a target by Olympiacos fans on the court and on social media, which is the least of his concerns: “Social media play a very important role. They affect people, both negatively and wrongly. My job is on the court, to give answers there, and criticism doesn’t affect me much either. I listen only to people close to me and I have to be responsible to my coach, and my team.”
Still, there is always a price.
The tension between the Greek eternal rivals is higher than ever and Kostas Sloukas wasn’t invited and didn’t attend the Printezis’ jersey retirement ceremony. As he admits: “It was very sad that I couldn’t be there, I would like to be there. He was a great athlete, we played together, he is my friend, but you can’t do anything, that’s life and I watched all this on the television”.