by Semih Tuna / info@eurohoops.net
Dimitris Itoudis spend 13 years in Panathinaikos as the right hand of Zeljko Obradovic and emerged as one of the best head coaches in Europe.
A EuroLeague champion with CSKA Moscow, he remains for a fifth season on the bench of the “Army Team” and he spoke to Eurohoops about his team, the goals they have and also his peculiar journey from Greece to Turkey, where he was the head coach of Banvit before moving to Moscow.
– You’re working for a big club like CSKA and that means you always had a good chance on winning trophies. If you get more of them, what would be your next goal?
“I don’t feel that way. Every season and every summer, actually it is very important for the clubs. Summer is when you try to build the team to accomplish the things during the season. As for building the team, summer is more than 50-60% of the job for the core of what kind of a team you’d establish, and the chemistry you would have in that team. We are working towards this direction together with Andrey Vatutin, Natalia Furaeva, and the sponsors to build the possibly best team in the EuroLeague. That’s the most important. Every season is a challenge for each and every one of us. I am very honored, and I want to use this opportunity to thank CSKA organization and personally Andrey Vatutin for having me as the head coach in the fifth year of our co-operation. We will try to build the best possible team to compete and to fulfill all the expectations of our fans, of the sponsors and of course ourselves”.
– Coaching in the NBA is a goal?
“I do not think about this right now. I think about how to build the best team for CSKA, and I am very happy with where I am. The NBA is a great, the best organization in the world regarding basketball. The unity they show, the common ideas, the whole plan, the attraction and the exposure they have… It is getting out with a great result. For sure, the NBA is great but I am very focused, determined, decisive on how we are going to build the best possible team and how to play the best basketball, to get some more wins with CSKA”.
– Nemanja Bjelica was considering a return to Europe. Eventually, he stayed in the NBA. Was he a target of CSKA?
“It is not the time to talk about our possible targets. CSKA has ears and eyes on everywhere, in the whole continent. And we sign the best possible players that can help the chemistry we want to have. It is not about the names. As you said, Bjelica is in the NBA and he is not a player of CSKA. Right now we want to have the best possible team, and the chemistry, which is the most important thing in team sports”.
– You started your head coaching career after 13 years in Panathinaikos with Banvit in Turkey. Why you made this choice?
“Actually we were in the middle of negotiations during the summer with other teams, in some cases together with Zeljko (Obradovic). I was on the Greek island of Rhodes. Mr. Turgay Çataloluk called me and said that the president (Ozkan Kilic) and the ex-owners of Banvit (Turgut and Omer Gorener) wanted to meet me. We met in Istanbul, and we talked for a long period. We were together and we agreed on a three-year deal”.
– Apart from Banvit, which teams came with an offer to you? Where would you start your head-coaching career if not Banvit?
“First of all, right now it is not important what the other teams were. What is important is the fact that we met Banvit, and I have only the best things to say about the Banvit family, the president Özkan Kılıç, Turgay Çataloluk, Turgay Zeytingöz, and of course the owners. And, you know, it’s irrelevant who were the other teams. Banvit viewed me as the right guy to work with, and the proposal and destination were very attractive. I have only good memories from Bandirma, Banvit, as they tried to make it a basketball environment for a coach to work in peace and be focused on what he has to do, his profession”.
– The young players of Banvit have been doing a pretty good job lately. During your Banvit days what was expected from the junior teams?
“Even though Banvit, let’s say, is one of those middle-class clubs of Europe, they have a great organization regarding the medical facilities, a dormitory for the young kids… The gym is a micrograph of the NBA facilities. They have everything inside, well-prepared and more than 50 kids are going to school, they are studying, they sleep over there, they have their rooms. The whole system works very well with well-educated coaches who have a great work ethic. When I went over there, I immediately said that I needed some young kids for my pre-season. Some of those young kids have already gone up, and played for several national teams of Turkey. This is great as the whole system in Banvit is well-organized”.
– How do you describe Turkish players’ performances? They perform great at the youth competition, but they cannot present themselves very well in the bigger stages. Did you notice any specific problem about that?
“Now you’re getting into the different waters, which is not my job to talk right now. I cannot know what happens in all the teams in Turkish basketball, but I am sure you have pretty good people in the federation. So they can judge, and they are responsible. With all due respect, this is not a question for me, because I do not have all the right sources to judge”.