By Eurohoops Team / info@eurohoops.net
Nikos Zisis has played 16 years in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, with seven different teams and is considered one of the best veterans in the competition. Since 2015, Zisis has been playing for Brose Bamberg and was coached by Andrea Trinchieri. In his career, he has also been lucky enough to be coached by five EuroLeague champions, Dusan Ivkovic, David Blatt, Ettore Messina, Jonas Kazlauskas and Zeljko Obradovic.
In his 16th year, the Greek guard is averaging 6.2 points and 2.7 assists per game.
In a conversation he had with EuroLeague, he said the following about coach Obradovic, and what makes him special:
“It was an amazing opportunity that came in such strange way,” Zisis explained. Zisis started the season with UNICS Kazan, but his team narrowly missed qualifying for the EuroLeague Top 16. The way he remembered it, “Fenerbahce showed some interest and all of sudden, I was there, out of the blue, to join the team at the start of the Top 16. It was a great opportunity for me because I had the chance to play for Coach Obradovic.”
Zisis believed that one particular skill makes Obradovic a different coach. “The way he reads the game is incredible, taking decisions in the middle of it. He had the biggest impact on games of all the other coaches I had.”
According to Zisis, many of the great coaches share the same winning traits Obradovic employed, he was demanding and his teams worked hard in practice. One thing that was different was pre-game preparation. “[Obradovic] doesn’t have a lot to say right before the game. He understands that players want to go out there and play the game. Sometimes he reminds his players that there are 15,000 people outside, waiting to see you guys give everything you have, that’s it. He doesn’t analyze too much before the game and I think this is important. Then in the game, he does the most important thing: he has an incredible ability to read the game for 40 minutes and understand what his team needs to win.”
Click here for the whole interview.
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