Pavlisevich: “Pavlos Giannakopoulos cried like a baby when we found out about the death of Drazen Petrovich”

Interview on their web radio EEC his former coach admitted PanathinaikouZeliko Pavlisevich, who referred, among other things, to the Greens’ near agreement with the late Drazen Petrovic, to Nikos Galis, but also to his wrong decision not to agree to the transfer of Panagiotis Fasoulas to the Kleeblatt.

For his impressions of Panathinaikos: “I have very good memories of both Greece and Panathinaikos. It was very important for me in the three years I was there to get to know a people who were very friendly to me and were very interested in basketball.”

For his decision to come to Panathinaikos: “At that time and as European champion, I decided to come, of course because of the great efforts of the coach I had in Greece, Vassilis Mendrinos, although I can say that Panathinaikos was not my first choice at the time. To the press.” At the conference when I arrived, I was asked three questions: “Whether I know where I got to as European champion, whether I know which stadium Panathinaikos plays in and whether I know the team’s squad.”

For the big decision to renew the team and release many players identified with Panathinaikos: “A saying goes: Every beginning is difficult. That’s how it was back then because there was a certain… quality of players and we wanted to make some changes that couldn’t be implemented immediately. So it started happening the following year. From the moment I arrived, I had many conversations with Pavlos Giannakopoulos, who loved the team very much and gave everything for it.

After much discussion, I tried to explain to him that unless we take the appropriate measures and receive the appropriate resources, there will be no way to make Panathinaikos great. At that time the beginning was made and the foundation stone was laid for the further course of Panathinaikos, which is known to everyone. In 1993 we won the cup and Christos Myriounis was one of the key players in the final. Let’s not forget that even then there was the transition of basketball from Thessaloniki to Athens. Furthermore, even Olympiacos had to react to my arrival, and they did. In my opinion, he brought in probably the best Greek coach of all time and that created competition at all levels.”

On his insistence that the team leave the closed avenue: “We were looking for a stadium where we can accommodate our European dreams and where players of similar stature can come so that we can make Panathinaikos a very big team.”

The only solution then was to go to the Glyfada Stadium and I thank Mr Pavlos Giannakopoulos for his approval and finally we went there. We had even discussed the possibility of hosting the European Games at the SEF, but there were also reactions to this particular issue because no one wanted the team to play their European Games there.”

For the transfer of Nikos Galis: “It is impossible not to remember the greatest legend of Greek basketball who traveled through Greece. What can be said about this player is very little. We managed to get him, also thanks to the great will of Pavlos Giannakopoulos to get this huge player.” In front of our team, I will mention something to understand how great Galis was, not only as a player, but also as Person.

This year, Nikos Galis and Arian Komazets, who was also a goalscorer, also came. So I sat down with Galis and told him: “A young, very good player has come to our team, who is also a goalscorer, and I don’t want there to be any problems between you.” We have to find a formula for her Find coexistence.” Galis’ answer was: “Coach, I won’t cause the slightest problem.” I am interested in Arians respecting all the rules that should apply between teammates and the team. There will be no problem from me. If you remember, this year was the first year that Galis wasn’t top scorer but was first in assists.

In the event of a takeover by Drazen Petrovic: “After what happened with Komazec and he had to leave, he found another team, Varese. Panathinaikos had also paid part of his contract at this point. Let’s not forget that Drazen was with the Nets at the time and because he wasn’t so happy with his playing time, a problem arose.

There were other teams that wanted to sign him, but I can say from talking to him all the time that there was an offer from Pavlos Giannakopoulos for a two-year contract worth $2 million each year. plus bonuses, while Nets received a total of 2 million per year. Since it had to be finished first and the news wasn’t made public, very few people knew about it: the president, me, Vlasis Vlaikidis and probably Stojan Vrankovic. We were then in the final discussions and details of the contract.

We spoke to him on the eve of his death. I called him in Poland, where he was, from where they would return the next day. “Based on the conversations we had back then, I can say that I’m 80 percent sure that he would have come to us because he was very disappointed with the Nets’ behavior.”

On the anniversary of Drazen Petrovic’s death: “I want to say something that no one knows. When we found out about Drazen’s death and went to the VIANEX offices early in the morning, Mr. Pavlos was literally crying like a baby. He loved the team so much that he wanted to make it big. He believed that with the arrival of Drazen, it would be a very big start for the team to sweep everything.

He had even mentioned that since this loss had occurred and he actually wanted to sign with us, he was willing to give the family a million dollars in memory of Drazen. The only person who had received the information about Drazen’s possible arrival was Nikos Galis. His response in this case was, “Coach, the better the team is, the better it is for all of us.”

For not signing Panagiotis Fasoulas: “We were in the parking lot in front of the Glyfada Stadium, where we were sitting and talking, and Mr. Pavlos Giannakopoulos had come. He then mentioned the possibility of Fasoulas joining the team. Then we had Volkov and Vrankovic, so with the addition of Panagiotis.” “We would have been much stronger in several ways. I think it was wrong not to take Fasoula because then we would certainly have been unbeaten facing Olympiakos.”

He stood down from Panathinaikos for the night: “After the defeat against Efes in Glyfada, the pressure I was under was very high for a day or two. At that time the war had started in my country and all my people were there. There was a lot of pressure, not just in sport.” But also in the family area. I mentioned to Mr. Giannakopoulos that I wanted to leave the team, but he didn’t accept it. Mr. Thanasis was also with me.

Two days later we met again and Mr Pavlos said that he had made the decision not to accept any changes regarding the team bench. As soon as he saw that I was insisting on my decision while he was too insistent on himself, he was forced to accept it. He actually cried, this situation had affected him so much. Mr. Pavlos was very unwell.”