The bruiser Mike Batiste, whose sneakers flaunt the modest inscription Big Mike, was caught by journalists immediately after training the army. Probably, the schedule of classes was specially chosen to create this strange pause between classes of the best teams of the continent. So that it would be possible to torture Papaloukas for longer and painlessly, to shoot the streetball duel of Vanterpool and Ponkrashov, to catch the same Batista earlier than anticipated by strict television schedules. A powerful American, whom human rumor is now zealously wooing in CSKA, sincerely tried to behave liberally: “We are really nervous. True, we are worried. My whole family is here, and I cannot afford any liberties. ”
It seems that CSKA should be calmer. The defeat of the “Pao”, which had previously lost when the result did not matter, will not be understood here. And all participants in the final match understand this. Theo Papaloukas gives interviews to almost fifty journalists at the same time. It’s hard to imagine what he’s being asked. Therefore, you have to ask standard questions, such as how the army playmaker feels in a confrontation with the best defender of the league Diamantidis and how he relates to the reaction of the Athenian arena. Theo replies memorized, but clearly: “This is not my confrontation with Dimitris. This is a confrontation between CSKA and Panathinaikos. Therefore, the outcome of a personal duel is not important for me. As for the OAKA reaction, you must understand that this is part of the Greek mentality. They only support their team here. ” This we especially clearly felt when we talked with the supervisor of the presidential guard on Syntagma Square on Sunday night. “I hope you can handle this Panathinaikos,” said the inveterate Olympiacos fan, not distracted by the changing of the guard at the parliament building.
CSKA fans also want to wait until the guard changes. Or, at least, some changes. Papaloukas, who received the regular season MVP prize from the hands of Euroleague President Jordi Bertomeu on Saturday night, proudly walked with two trophies under his arm, but could not say anything concrete. Zeljko Obradovic at the morning press conference reminded that “Pao” lost here to the “Arisa” in the Greek Cup. And Ettore Messina did not doubt the qualities of army snipers, once again confirming the words of Trajan Langdon that there are failures in throws. Even if Jay.Ar.Holden got to the workout from that very uncomplicated point, from where in the semifinal he missed twice in one attack, at best one of five throws. “This is just an accident,” Messina nodded at the suggestion of the Sport Today correspondent.
Nikolai TSYNKEVICH, Athens