Following Panathinaikos OPAP Athens's home loss to Zalgiris Kaunas, coach Dimitris Priftis made extensive comments on the war in Ukraine, stressing that it's a situation affecting the whole planet.
| Player of the Game | |
|
EFF
29
|
| Edgaras Ulanovas | |
| Points | 22 |
| Accuracy | 9-12 |
| Rebounds | 4 |
| Assists | 2 |
Asked about the war and whether he has spoken to certain people in Russia, where he was coaching UNICS Kazan for four years (2017-2021), Priftis said that "what's happening is difficult for all of us, part of our minds is there. We think it's far away from us, but it's not."
He went on to reveal that he's had some talks with people, like "(coach) Dimitris Itoudis in Moscow. I talk to my former team in Kazan and the people there."
Priftis pointed out that he's heard arguments from both sides and came to the conclusion that "things are very ambiguous."
"I don't want to have a political debate right now. People in Russia have their own approach to what is happening," he explained.
Referring to the war and its consequences, the Greek tactician said that "it affects all areas of life - the economic side, the social aspect, sports, everything... I hope that a solution can be found soon."
For PAO's head coach, "all people, whether we are Ukrainians or Russians or Americans or Lithuanians or Turks or whatever, are the same before God. We are brothers, as our religion says. Unfortunately, some people with certain interests put others in the throes of war and battle.
People are fighting over money and land. The planet is enough for all of us."
Priftis also talked about the game, dominated completely by Zalgiris, stressing that Panathinaikos did not rise to the occasion.
"Unfortunately we had a very bad first quarter and we hurt ourselves," he said initially.
"This is not to say that we were very good in the remaining three, but we had more balance. We lost too easily.
In those games, if you enter the court without touching the opponent and don't pass the ball on offense, the other team will have these percentages from the field. They had 75% on two-pointers in the first half. That means we didn't touch them."
He also avoided using excuses. "We weren't enough tonight. Of course, there are excuses, but I can't dwell on them now. Anyway, it is what it is. We must go on."
