Agravanis on the massacre in Prague: “I’m lucky, I didn’t go to the center and stayed in the hotel”

After several years in Greece, Yiannis Agravanis took the step abroad and decided to move to the Czech Republic to continue his career at Slavia Prague.

The 25-year-old guard/forward was hosted on EEC Web Radio, where he spoke about the new conditions he found in the country he wanted to move to, also referring to the Prague massacre, which Agravanis explained to him wanted to go to this center the next morning, but ended up staying at the hotel.

In detail what Yiannis Agravanis said:

On the massacre in Prague: “We had training in the morning and I thought about going to the center. Then I saw that it was raining, so I thought I would sit in the hotel and rest. Then in the group where the players and coaches have to talk, we were told not to go downtown because there was a crazy guy who was shooting people and some people died. I realized how lucky I was that I changed my mind and stayed at the hotel. Sirens blared everywhere as everyone made their way downtown. I also spoke to my teammates and actually one of them was in the center, a little further away from the incident. Everyone told me it was a real chaos with police cars and ambulances. They told me that nothing like this had ever happened in Prague.

How he joined the team: “I have wanted the idea of ​​going abroad for a long time. The Czech Republic was the opportunity I wanted. It is truly a blessing to play in such a good league and continue to develop both in basketball and mentally as a person in the basketball field. The exterior is something I have been “chasing” myself and that may be why it has been delayed a bit longer. Luckily, what I wanted happened.

On the reception he received from the team: “Everything happened very quickly. As soon as I arrived here, I completed two training sessions and immediately we played the cup game, which we had already won. The whole team, all the children are very well behaved and welcomed me with joy and in a very good mood.”

On his role in the team: “They needed a player in my position who could help in all areas. They also took Teddy Okerefor along with me. Essentially the team is a little newer with these two new additions, which means we’re all trying to come together and get the wins we need.”

For Slavia Prague: “It is the same team as in football and the equivalent in basketball, under the same “roof”. In football they are the champions, the best team in the Czech Republic, with a great stadium and lots of people. She is 2nd in basketball^The Year that they are in A1, it is a new venture that they are trying to accomplish. They also have the ambition to take part in European competitions in the future. I think it’s something they really want and are trying to achieve it little by little in their own way.”

For supporting people and basketball: “Because it is a new venture for them and “building” football is more important to them, there are not that many fans in the basketball audience. It’s up to the entire team to change this and up to the public to support both sports.”

About the Czech league and characteristics of Czech players: “The Czechs have quite good characteristics, almost all of them have a very good punch and strong bodies. What is missing compared to the Greek element is that they are a little behind in the tactical part and play more with instinct. There is both American and community. As far as the league is concerned, there are 12 teams, 7 of which are^The until 10^The In which position do they play with each other to get into the play-offs? The two losers play the last two and the last one plays to remain the champion of A2. In general, it is a country that has enough basketball talent that they represent with their national team, which we know well from the games between them. They certainly have a very dynamic league.

On the style of basketball in the Czech Republic: “It’s much faster than Greek, you have more spaces, lots of threes and the decisions you have to make have to be very quick, you don’t have time to think. That’s really good because it makes you tougher when you go into one phase and go straight into the next.”

For people’s interest in basketball: “We played one game at home and three away. The stadiums were full at all three away games and he had a nice pace through the crowd. It was great to play in front of such an audience. They love basketball very much because they also respect the players they produced as a country, for example Satoransky and Veseli. I see it every day, either on posters they’re on or how they talk about it.

How to watch basketball in the Czech Republic: “I’ve been watching more football on TV, but I don’t see basketball broadcasts as often. As far as I know, they are on the internet. They mainly watch the Czech players who play in European competitions.”

For the…suffering he experienced: “I’m going to share an experience that doesn’t happen often. When we travel far in Greece, we are used to arriving the day before and staying in a hotel. Last matchday we played against Opava, who are number 1^The and the current champion and we drove in a small van, a journey of about 5.5 hours. With all the big boys in there we were all very close together, it’s hard to play a clear game after that. That was probably one of the biggest “sufferings” I’ve experienced before a fight.”