By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
Eurohoops met Printezis in the locker room when the heart rates had dropped, the lights were out and the assignment was leaving the building.
– Giorgos, what were you saying in the locker room? Honestly, how must they feel in CSKA?
“Well, what could we say? We congratulated each other and reminded each other to stay calm because there is one more game left. We didn’t think at all that we defeated CSKA once again, that for the third time we smiled in the end and most things people think. Not at all. We respect them immensely. A big outfit, always a great team and this year better than they’ve been in years.”
– How did you do it again? This thing can’t keep happening, every time with an ever larger degree of difficulty. This has become… exhausting.
“I’m not sure. What can I say, I don’t know. We never give up. The only thing on our minds is to find a way to win. When we were down 7 points, I was saying on the bench that if we make 1 or 2 good plays, we’ll turn it around and win. On Sloukas’s lay-up I had that feeling… That the good thing is going to happen again.”
– How hard was it?
“Incredibly hard. I play basketball for many years. It’s the first time in my life that I feel like this after a game. I can barely walk. Many times I thought I’d given everything I had and it turned out I was wrong. There was more. This time I really did give it all. In the game I felt like I was going to faint! Luckily, I came through.”
– Is it a matter of mentality, tactics, heart?
“For this game, no question. Spirit! We played against these giants, all of them huge and athletic and we got 7 more rebounds. That cannot be! Mental reserves that you don’t know where they stem from every time at the most crucial moment.”
– The final against Real. What do you think? This time they’re playing at home.
“Yes. We didn’t defeat them last year in the playoffs in this arena, despite playing 3 times. Now it’s only one game. Who knows what will happen? No one. The only thing I know is that we will (once again) give everything we have.”