Already on his second day in Greece, Juan Platha spoke at the press conference in New Philadelphia about the new challenge in his career. The new AEK trainer introduced himself to his world and the Greek public and answered journalists’ questions. The Spanish coach spoke respectfully about Greek basketball, explaining the reasons why he chose AEK, referring to the game schedule and setting out the team’s goals.

What the Spanish coach said in detail:

“I’ll try to learn more Greek by the end of the year so I can tell you it’s a real honor for me to be a part of Greek basketball. I grew up and learned about basketball from a young age watching Galis In Spain there is a lot of respect for Greek basketball because they beat us in many finals.

From now on we will try to give a guide for our work and hope people like it. We certainly have aspirations and desires. I can’t promise we’ll win every game, but we’ll be competitive.

Our goal is to consistently get in touch with the management. I have a lot of respect for the league and coaches like Bartzokas, Ataman and Spanoulis. I want to see you happy in a year’s time because we will have achieved the goals.”

What convinced him and how he approaches this chapter: “In Spain we have a lot of respect for Greek basketball and when a team like AEK calls you it’s hard to say no. It is very clear that when a team has the same attitude as you, it means a step forward. To train AEK on this anniversary year and in this stadium it was a great honor.

To the goals: “We have to see which players we bring with us, we have to improve our numbers compared to last year and get as close as possible to Olympiakos and Panathinaikos.”

As for whether it is possible for AEK to defeat Panathinaikos-Olympiakos: “There are no tricks to changing such differences in a few months. We have to have a clear line and consistency in our work. To be successful in transfers. By working to have continuity in the results in Greece and Europe so that the fans are happy.” “It is fundamental to develop our own style and that is the way we approach it.”

The characteristics of the group: “You can’t always have the same playbook. Let’s see what players we get. The easiest way would be to say that we score 100 points and concede 50 every game, but we have to see which players we get. Let’s play.” an attractive basketball for management and fans”.

To return to the stands: “At work we have to recycle and learn new things. When I’m not training, I’m attending Spurs, Celtics, Spanish men’s and women’s teams, and several Spanish league teams. I wasn’t sitting on the sofa, I was recycling my thoughts and I was ready for a moment like that.”

About the squad: “The biggest mistake clubs make is signing names. We will try to sign profile players. We will struggle with the staff we have to find players who fit, always in relation to the team’s potential. We will try not to make a wrong choice.” “.

For Greek and Spanish players: “The Spanish players are very expensive, but they may not be suitable to come. I spoke to Colom Oriola and coaches who worked in Greece and they told me more or less things to expect. I want to believe that.” When my team picked me, I knew what coaching profile I was. Wherever I’ve been, I left a good legacy. I’ve always managed to improve local players and I believe there are very few clubs better than AEK to go to. ”

“When I was at Real, I signed a young player who nobody knew, Sergio Yul. Then when I went to Seville I signed Satoranski, Porzingis and Balvin, who had great careers. At Zalgiris I also coached several players who later went to the NBA.” .

In Malaga there were athletes like Sabonis, who went to the NBA, and Alberto Diath, who played for the Spanish national team. During this process, some teams played the first European final in their history, others won European championships, some won championships, so at the same time I knew how to do this process.”