By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
Greek federation president George Vasilakopoulos gave an interview to “Ta Nea” newspaper about the thunderous, as he characterized it, failure of the Greek national team in the recent Eurobasket. Vasilakopoulos acknowledge that he is also to be blamed: “It’s a big failure and everyone is responsible about it, above all me and the federation, then the coach and the players. It’s a pity because we had a great roster”.
Speaking about the FIBA World Cup wildcards he said what everyone was expecting to hear from him: “I think that we are entitled to a wild card. We are meeting all the criteria and it’s our right. However, at this point FIBA acts like IOC and during the 24th and the 25th of November in Buenos Aires we will know the final list of the countries that will have a shot in getting one of the four Wild Cards. The final decision will be announced on February”.
The most important news from his interview came from his answer to the question about Italian coach Andrea Trinchieri and his possible firing. The question was if it’s logical for Trinkieri to wait until February, when it will be known if Greece will get a wild card, but Vasilakopoulos said…
“Why, has he shown any interest to contact us and I don’t know about it? I think that his main concern is the Russian league and his team. So, he probably can wait”.
From protection to irony
Did you detect a little irony to the answer? We did and by this public statement it’s evident that Trinkieri will not stay with the team, a common secret in Greece, specially for those who are familiar with the way Vasilakopoulos reacts after national team failures.
The really ironic part of the situation, however, was the fact that when Vasilakopoulos presented Trinkieri as the new national team coach and he was asked about the inexperience of the Italian in national team tournaments and teams with heavy pedigree, he was furious about the questions. From protection to irony.
As Eurohoops has reported since the 27th of September, Fotis Katsikaris who is still uneployed, is the main contender to replace the Italian coach.