On such days (March 2, to be precise) of 2013, Greek basketball was shrouded in mourning over the death of George Kolokythas. “Mytos” was unique in everything: as a player, as a personality, as the general manager of the national teams and so on.

Nine years later, two of his children from the laurel wreath and acclaimed national team of the 2000s are trying to follow in his footsteps and – to say my sin – they succeed not badly!

Of course, Dimos Dikoudis and Nikos Zisis aren’t so much a party, they don’t smoke cigarettes or cigars and they don’t stay overnight like the late Kolokythas, but I daresay their presence alone fills the big gap to some extent.

This presence is far from symbolic and formal since, as a bird told me, Dikoudis as elected board member of the EEC and head of national teams and Zisis as general manager of national teams do a lot of work inside, without of course replacing Sotiris Manolopoulos and his staff or to hate!

The appearance of Zisis in Moraitis

In his interview with Sportish, Dimitris Moraitis testified about his “apprenticeship” at Zisis, with whom he was a teammate at AEK last year.

Here’s what the Guardian of Peristeri revealed, which was already Ethniki’s in-game reveal last Monday: “Zisis advised me a lot in the games against Turkey, especially for defense against Larkin. I appreciate him very much, we have a great relationship and he helps me a lot when I need him. He told me to be tough on Larkin and not to be afraid of him. Throughout the game I looked at the bench, he talked to me and helped me a lot“.

And Moraitis continued: “The presence of such personalities in the National as Zisis or Dikoudis, the so-called “Legends”, is a great motivation for us. It raises our confidence and level. The National has already taken a step and I believe the sequel will be even better for our representative band with these people“.

Moraitis wasn’t the only one who went through this extra seminar process. Zisis wasn’t the only one who blew a player’s mind to be born.

Dikoudis Seminary in Agravanis

Then, on the eve of the second game, there was a knock on the door of the room where Dimitris Agravanis was staying and he opened it and saw the community of Dikoudis in front of him…

“The mere fact that two legends of this generation are with us and close to us flatters us and helps us a lot from a competitive, psychological and spiritual point of view.“, the top player of the national team confided in me in the first four games of the qualifying phase…

What special advice did Dikoudis Agravanis give?

The dribbling in the penetrations

“Since he played my position and knew it, he told me that I needed to improve my dribbling penetrations to be an even better stretch four. I know I can score with a three on pick n pop phases, but Dikoudis also put me in the hole to try and end phases with a drive in the bat. In those cases, I definitely need to improve my dribbling and how I get the ball on the ground“.

A few hours after Dikoudis’ seminar in Agravanis, the delegation later boarded a bus bound for Sinan Erdem Arena, but the omens were not pleasant.

Sloukas’s Gandalf with coffee

As usual, Costas Sloukas took his coffee with him in a plastic cup, but in a corner, Giannis Kouzeloglou, who was sitting in the next seat, fell on him and something bad happened!

“No rec @@@ ω τοyelled the saloon guard in frustration.We lost all three times my coffee spilled before Olympiakos game in EuroLeague“!

When Sloukas made this revelation, his teammates started laughing!

“Treat the bad, go, it’s over“Costas Papanikolaou told him.”So make sure you play the best you can lest you deprive me of the honor I have for being a leader“!

Sloukas smiled while at the same time all the players told him not to pay attention to this event. “We’ll break the Gandalf hitting you with the coffees, don’t worry. We’re here for you“They assured him an opera was ready…