Papanikolaou: “I didn’t think of anything, I wanted at least one of the two to step in”

Greece beat Turkey 72-71 in Ano Liossia for World Cup qualifiers. The savior was Costas Papanikolaou, who had 2/2 shots in 3” before the final. In his statements to NOVA, he revealed that he is thinking of nothing at this moment except scoring at least once.

Papanikolaou’s statements in detail:

For the game: “It’s a difficult and important win that had to be equalized with half a point. A lot of us joined the team last night and it was normal not to know each other well. Turkey had chemistry and automation and it seemed to be closing in the game be that as a team it was better prepared.

We didn’t know how to adjust our defense and the work of all the coaches was difficult. It’s a very important win. First of all, we have to congratulate Mouratos, Moraitis and Kalaitzakis on defending against Larkin. It was one of the keys to making the most of it. If we had a week’s work, we would have shorter dead times. That’s the story for better or for worse, but for me it’s not pretty because very good teams with great players run the risk of being eliminated. “I don’t want to underestimate anyone.”

For his shots in the final: “In the end we decided to play defense. At that moment, I wasn’t thinking about anything and wanted at least one of them to come in. But in the end everything is fine. We all win together and we all lose together. The atmosphere was great and I haven’t experienced it again. We felt the warmth of the people and it was beautiful with the children and the blue color in the stands.