Priftis found his man in Jovic

The day appears to be January 28th and not December 27th. The day that began with Stefanos and ended with Stefanos (o)! Both, of course: Tsitsipa’s semi-final in Melbourne is one thing and Jovic’s debut in Maroussi is another, but as Americans say, it’s a shame to let a detail spoil a beautiful story…

The story of Stefanos can become even more beautiful in the future, as well as that of Stefan, who, however, when he appeared to him, became a reason for him to laugh at the deceitful lip of Dimitris Priftis. Of course, to be honest, the day at OAKA didn’t end with Jovic, but with… Mantzouka working overtime!

Mantzoukas, like… Drazen

I take it seriously because I left the field at least an hour after the game ended and while I was sitting in the OAKA basement writing and writing, Lefterakis didn’t move a rupee!

He returned to the field from the dressing room with Isidoros Koutsos and – with the usual exaggeration that stuns me – I dare say he did better in all positions Shot of what the late Drazen Petrovic threw in Sibenik’s hall every morning!

Okay, don’t worry, I wrote a conversation, but damn, I didn’t even make any outrageous comparisons: I’m just referring to the working hours the Gianniotis forward puts in, especially when he feels like he did . not played well…

At the same time, Dimitris Priftis’ other associate, Vassilis Simtsak, had an even tougher task than Koutsos. He passed the ball to shoot his two little ones!

A little earlier, a little later

I close the bracket here with the … extra of the two Priftis employees and return to the topic, which of course is the long-awaited, as the Americans say, the debut of Stefan Jovic, which came a little earlier or a little later than expected !

This oxymoron is explained because if Panathinaikos played with the decimated Iraklis on Monday, Priftis would use it more comfortably and safely in terms of the conditions of a Euroleague game, be it the postponed one against Zalgiris or yesterday against Baskonia…

In any case, Panathinaikos’ original plan was to keep Jovic in the pits for another ten days, but was overturned by the flood of events: Perry left, Macon was injured, there were doubts about Sant Ross’ readiness and such further should Bohoridis be to leave his bones on the ground!

With all this accelerating the debut of the Serbian point guard, who appeared last night as a fan in the number 24 jersey…

Gentritis and the redemptive triad

For the first time three minutes and four seconds before the end of the first period, Bookare scored as a substitute for Bohoridis with a three-pointer for 11^the Minute to 25-10, while on the next possession he dished the first assist to Okaro White, who surprisingly scored (27-10)…

I took notes on what he did and now that I look back at them I realize that he was also called to speak, taking the baton from his compatriot Nemanja Nedovic to honor Rokas Gendraitis , and goes on to say…

He continues and continues chasing the snakes, which had begun to bite Priftis, a minute and 55 seconds before the end of the game: then the strangled Basques recovered, reducing the difference from 27 points (59-32) to 13 (70 – 57), but Jovic didn’t want to leave any stains at his premiere. He took the ball, executed from 6m.75 and the job was done!

23 assists and Cabasso

In the end, the so-called player stayed on the ground for 19 minutes and 20 seconds, scored six points (0/1d., 2/2tr.), three rebounds and three assists, won two fouls and was charged with one, made two mistakes, scored 10 points in the ranking and made Ioannis Papapetrou … envious and ate his anger in the role of the creator!

I’m joking, but not so much: The Greens burst into creation on the debut of the pass-first-point guard, who shares the record for assists in a Euroleague game with Facudo Cabasso, among others (19).

Panathinaikos, who averaged 14.2 assists before yesterday’s game, shared 23 this time, with Papapetrou and Bohoridis “writing” from five and Nedovic sharing four…

If the election-torn ace Panathinaikos gave two more final passes, then his performance would be in the top 10 of his Euroleague history!

The triangle attack and the 13^or Messiah!

I mean that for the suffering of the six-time European champion in the most crucial position I’ve ever played in basketball, unless George Vovoras, Odent Katas and Dimitris Priftis took Phil Jackson’s ideas as their own and resorted to the triangle attack.

In support of this, I remind you that on this point guard runway there have been a few messianic candidates over the last 18 months who have been striving to fit into the (roomy) shoes that Nick Kalathis leaves in the dressing room had. ..

Either as simple playmakers, or as auxiliaries, or out of necessity, or specifically, or as patchwork solutions, or permanently, or occasionally in a few games over this year and a half – and if I have no problems – 12 players have been tested!

Pierre Jackson, Kiefer Sykes, Marcus Foster, Selvin Mack, Howard Sant Ross, Lefteris Bohoridis, Nikos Diplaros, George Kalaitzakis, Daryl Macon, Nemanja Nedovic, Kendrick Perry, Yogi Fere

Priftis just hopes that count will be completed with Jovic bringing an aura and even offering warmth on his debut in the hill of “hope” …

That was his own message of hope (without the quotes) apart from making it a mess and he can dispel opinion that the number 13 is rude!

Coincidence and the Impressive

The Serbian point guard, called upon to bring substance and importance to a position that a year and a half ago turned into a … center of transit, finally left haunted and empty of content, returned after a year at Euroleague level for eight days, through a satanic coincidence, same stadium: on January 21, 2021 he played as a player of Khimki against Panathinaikos and yesterday he wore the green jersey for the first time…

Jovic is not a magician and showman, he will not enchant with his splendor nor will he generate much wow!

However, it can become the piece of the puzzle that solves the vital problems of the six European champions and conceals some others.

Apart from being a good player, he is also a good teammate and he showed this virtue straight away, not only playing but also sitting on the bench from where he stood up, shouted, encouraged, encouraged and continued saying…

THAT… communication specialist from Priftis

We came here as we used to say in the cinema because above all Jovic showed from the first moment that he is the prince’s man …

His man, the security service, Kavatza and his representative on the ground at the time of the action. As I recall, the current Panathinaikos coach uses a specific expression for such players…

He calls them “mediators”, he goes on to say that they connect the bench to the field and the coach to the players.

To make a joke, Jovic is now the communicator of Priftis. First of all, a good player is known and proven, and most importantly, a point guard…

One of the prisoners…

As such and refined with Serbian culture, he has the perception, the ability to read situations and the gift to communicate with the coach and his teammates…

The Hornets and the 5 on 5

These three elements were missing from Kendrick Perry, who certainly excels in energy, athleticism and speed, but in life you can’t have them all, just a pair!

In the presence of Jovic, the Greens do not want to become like them … Hornets to score 115.0 points and eat 114.6, it makes no sense …

With him at the helm, they are looking to improve their game 5v5 performance, which requires the playmaker’s communication with the coach, reading the situations in opposing defenses well and setting up his teammates to keep correct distances and to move the way the ball should.

Thanks to the experience and ingredients from which he created his character, Jovic is a man at reading the game, figuring out where the upside lies, how to cover up the downside, and giving directions every time the system calls.

All coaches around the world are looking for a player who fulfills these basic needs and supports their plan and of course Priftis is no exception to this rule…

It has already been seen (as an assistant in the national team) how Dimitris Diamantidis and Nikos Zisis make the game, while as Aris’ coach he saw the perceptiveness of Vassilis Xanthopoulos, so he knows exactly what he wants and who can offer it to him .. .

So his husband is now called Stefan Jovic!