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Quote:Zeljko Obradovic talked about everything to the Sunday edition of Greek newspaper "Kathimerini". Here is the full interview translated.



What is your greatest reward for all your accomplishments with Panathinaikos given that you are also working in a foreign country?



- I want to see the arena full and fans should leave happy with what they see on the floor. It is difficult to fill the OAKA, but every sold-out is like a title for us. The greatest benefit is for the fans to understand the team and basketball, really helping us and setting obstacles on our way. Before the 4th final i said to the players: " Guys we worked really hard to have 20.000 people on our side"



Do you learn something everyday?



- That's life not, only basketball. Like the ancient Greeks said, we are aging constantly learning something. I learn from my partners and my players. Truth is you make decisions and the players, who are smart, understand the seriousness of the matter. In the last play of the EL final i talked with Dimitris (Itoudis) and said to the players:" Let's play defense". I didn't explain anything further. And they agreed.



Does Dusan Ivkovic remain your 2nd father?



- He is a great man and was... cool enough to hang out with me, even though I am younger we hang out and i learn lots from him off court.



What is your method of bringing the best out of players or having players adapt to the team, like Jasikevicius who was free to do whatever he wanted in his previous teams?



- Jasikevicius came to a team that had achieved a Triple Crown kai it was not easy at all for him, having that character, to adjust to the teams immediately. I remember last year, every time that Panathinaikos didn't play well, there was talk of Jasikevicius. I was the first to try to protect him I am the coach and i have the biggest responsibility. It is easy to find a player say "He didn't play well, let's blame him, and all will be fine". Sarunas was very different this year, he took the team on his shoulders many times and played very well.



Do you ask for something more, besides being healthy, after all you have accomplished in basketball?



- I believe life is simple. There is people you like and love and we all should be talking about health. I like life and i am happy every morning i wake up. I try to enjoy life. Some of the things i like are those that we're talking about. Life, basketball, making the people i love and the team i love happy. You asked me before the interview if i am tired. I tell you i am not. I talk about the things i love. It is something that makes me happy. I try every morning to enjoy life cause afterall life's short. It is not possible to be happy everyday or every time to be successful.



Is your happiness based on the so many titles you have won in such a short period of time?



- Titles are a short pleasure. You try everyday hard in order in another day to win a title, but you cannot celebrate it more than 2-3 days. You have a drink, you listen to the props and the wishes and then you start thinking of the next chapter of your life. To me everyday happiness is being with my friends talking about all matters, not only basketball, having them beside me, and them having me besides them. It is very important to me for friends to come over from Serbia, Italy, Greece and hang out. They are simple friends that i appreciate and respect a lot. Likewise it is great to have around your family. I told my daughter i would support anything she wants to and i will say the same to my son.



What value do you give money?



- Without money you cannot do many nice things. I have people i help, cause i gain a lot more back from them, but i don't work in order to earn as much as possible. I want to spend in order to have a nice time without exaggerating.



We've seen you turning red while coaching.How do you beat stress and pressure?



- I do not turn red, i turn blue (laughs). It is a normal reaction to me. It's my style. I don't yell at a player to force me over him, i instead give him arguments on how he didn't do what we had discussed correctly. When i talk to the players on the bench, i am preparing them so when they get on court they will do correctly what their teammates are not. I am not stressed. I feel a have tension, but i do not act under pressure. I try to find solutions throughout the game, cause i don't have much time to think. That's why i have told Dimitris (Itoudis) to talk to me constantly and to be telling me everything he thinks. I make the decisions, but it is important to have beside me someone that i trust not 100%, but 1000%

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Quote:The American website that had first reported Nick Calathes' transfer to Panathinaikos, OrlandoSentinel.com has struck again, this time revealing the details of the contract that the young Greek International star signed with Panathinaikos.



More specifically Nick Calathes signed an initial 2 years deal worth a total of $2.2 million USD (1.6 million EUR) with a 500.000 USD buy-out for an NBA team in the summer of 2010/11, after his first season in Panathinaikos. This with the presumption that Calathes will actually get picked in the June 25 NBA draft. In case that Calathes feels that he will not get picked in the first round of the draft, he can pull out by July 15.



But this is not all, Calathes will have an option for a third year, with a significant raise which can reach as much as 50%, earning him a total of $3.5-4 million USD in three years, all tax free. Add a free house and a car and you have one of the best packages any professional athlete could ask for.



Here is what Calathes stated to Jeremy Fowler, a writer for Orlando Sentinel:



"I really haven't realized how great of a situation this is yet. It's a lot of money. But the main thing for me is being able to get better over there and blend the European style of basketball with the American style. It will help me improve as a player.



It was definitely a tough decision not to stay in the draft because that's been my dream. But I thought about how nothing is guaranteed. I still think I can be a first-rounder, but who knows? This way I can get my goal achieved and have a great experience.



All the reporters and people from the team met me at the airport in Greece, so that was a great experience. I'm not coming in trying to be the star player, I just want to help our team win another title. They run a lot of pick-and-rolls, so I can work on that aspect of my game."

It seems that there is a quite a gap between between Panathinaikos and Sarunas Jasikevicius as they failed to agree terms on his new contract. There were disagreements on both salary and the contract length.



It is now up to Obradovic to pressure Panathinaikos management to keep Saras. I hope Saras stays <img src='http://www.talkbasket.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

If Saras doesn't to the rival clubs of his former clubs and leaves PAO then only Barca seems like a real option because I doubt that Maccabi would be able to offer him the contract that he wants.

What's this bs about Siska comming back to pao. Any idea where it started?

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Quote:The Euroleague's independent disciplinary judge, ruling on disciplinary proceedings stemming from the May 3 title game at the Final Four in Berlin, has imposed sanctions for behavior deemed to have been damaging to the image and interests of the competition.



Panathinaikos of Greece was sanctioned by the independent judge with a fine of €150,000 for behavior considered detrimental to the Euroleague and the sport of basketball. The ruling attributed the sanctioned behavior to a high-level executive of the club. The decision against Panathinaikos may be appealed only to the international Court of Arbitration for Sport.



The independent judge also sanctioned CSKA Moscow of Russia, which received a fine of €6,000 for incidents that took place inside O2 World during the final game.



To those that don't remember or don't know what happened, we shall remind you that Panathinaikos vice-President stormed into the court after the end of the Final game Panathinaikos - CSKA and threw a couple of hundred euro bills in the face of the Spanish Fianl referee, Arteaga.

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Quote:Sarunas Jasikevicius is already in Lithuania by now but he left Athens with the hope that he will stay at Panathinaikos after all. The two sides are trying to reach a consensus and Jasikevicius' desire to retire playing for Panathinaikos is so big that he accepted to reduce his salary by more than 50%.



The only real problem remaining at this stage if the contract length. While Jasikevicius wants a closed 2 years contract Panathinaikos is offering him a 1+1 with a team option in the summer of 2010. Both sides are optimistic that a solution is close.



In the meantime, although it was decision taken months ago, Panathinaikos has used their option and extended Drew Nicholas' contract until the next summer.



Finally, Obradovic decided that he wants to keep Chatzivrettas for the next season too, hence Panathinaikos offered the Greek guard a deal until the summer of 2010 with a reduced salary. Chatzivrettas will probably accept it.

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Quote:Panathinaikos has officially applied for a contract termination for Dusan Kecman to the Greek League. This is a standard and typical procedure when contracts are terminated, even when it is a mutual decision between the club and the player, as was the case between Kecman and Panathinaikos.



Kecman was acquired last summer as part of the Pekovic deal because both Pekovic and Kecman came from the same club and has the same agent. Kecman has alreafy starting looking for a new team and one of the candidates is Panellinios while we shouldn't rule out the chance of him returning to Partizan.



In the meantime Panathinaikos will be offering a new contract to the Georgian prospect Giorgi Shermadini as they are very satisfied with his development throughout the season.



Shemadini, who is considered as the new 'Obradovic project' will be offered a better deal than the current with a higher salary and a multi-years contract.

According to ESPN Nick Calathes is asking PAO to release him from his contract. He supposedly changed his mind about joining them because he won't get any playing time.

Any links?

[url="http://www.talkbasket.net/news/spanoulis-interview-2459.html"]Spanoulis interview[/url]

Jasikevičius is getting better finally. Hopefully he'll get a constant role in A1 finals and we'll be back on track completely. I don't think that's there's nothing left from that Šaras who we saw at Euroleague final 4 last season. How do you think, what's his future for the next season?

i think his future will depend on his performance in the playoffs, especially in the finals. And of course on his health. With oly having won the greek cup and pao out of the f4, the championship is the only title left for pao, so if saras helps the team win it, it could turn the odds in his favor.

Anything new about Aleks Maric?

[quote name='VUJCIC7' date='17 April 2010 - 06:33 PM' timestamp='1271518439' post='20933']

Anything new about Aleks Maric?

[/quote]

Hey, welcome to the forum! Maybe our Greek posters can correct me but as far as I know there were no more further news other than that Panathinaikos want him.

[quote name='Vilius' date='17 April 2010 - 08:57 PM' timestamp='1271534227' post='20937']

Hey, welcome to the forum! Maybe our Greek posters can correct me but as far as I know there were no more further news other than that Panathinaikos want him.

[/quote]

Thanks mate.



I really liked what I've seen from Maric this season.

Actually, I've been following him since he was playing for Nebraska.



Boy that kid has grown into a beast!