By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
They have been opponents in the Final Four of 2009 and also teammates in Olympiacos. And Euroleague legend Theodoros Papaloukas speaking about the Final Fours in the Spanish magazine “Gigantes Del Baloncesto”, one of the traditional basketball publications in Europe, is praising Vasilis Spanoulis.
As he explains: “I think that the last 2-3 years he is the number 1. Still I don’t like the “who is better” question. I prefer the “who is in his best moment” question. And Vasilis for three seasons he is dominating and winning. He is a natural leader who can win a game on his own. He combines quality and work ethic. He is in his best moment”.
Speaking about his Euroleague career in a four pages interview, he mentioned not only the good times with CSKA, but also the lost finals to Panathinaikos in Athens and to Barcelona in Paris: “It was like a movie. I was in my city with my friends, but in a hostile environment. It was a great game, but I lost the chance to win the title in details. Diamantidis even now, that he is a veteran, makes his team better. With him on the court the team is different”.
For the final with Olympiacos in Paris he added: “Barcelona played the final having more enthusiasm. And when a Spanish team has more desire than you, you are lost . We allowed them to run up and down and we that was fatal”.