The aura of Spanoulis – THE NEWS

As soon as one entered SEF, one could feel it in the atmosphere. He could smell it in the air of the Falerian stadium, feel it in his body.

The aura of Vassilis Spanoulis was diffused from one end to the other in the emblematic stadium from one end of the parquet to the other, from the platform to the changing rooms and… the parking lot.

“Let’s go see Spanoulis’ team” excitedly said two little kids to their dad as they approached SEF for the premiere of the National team in the EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers with Vassilis Spanoulis on its bench for the first time.

The National Team entered the SEF floor, for the first time after the 1998 Mundobasket, to the sounds of the final countdown that gave off a strong aroma of Eurobasket 1987.

Perhaps when she entered the field and her coach should also play the “eye of the tiger” that accompanied the tributes to the great Nikos Galis whose shirt – with the National team – already adorned the sky of SEF.

Yes, because Spanoulis’ eye had that look of a tiger, it shone with passion, pride, strength for this start for this and he did not feel the slightest fear when his players – under the track of the premiere – broke them.

“I told them in the locker room that I believe this generation can do something very, very big. Not only for themselves, but to leave behind a legacy for the new kids and create the next generations” coach Spanoulis revealed that he told his players when we asked him if his debut on the bench of the blue and white team was exactly as he had it dream smiled widely.

“I represented this country as a player for more than 15 years, from a very young age, even when I was tired, even when I was injured. I was always there because it made me proud. I believe that when you are called to the National Team, you cannot say no. This is the Greek mentality. This is how we are in Greece. We are proud and we can fight against anyone because we have a big soul and we are proud.

All these months I’ve been thinking about the way we’re going to play. I was trying to watch all the players to decide who to call and who will play this basketball here. It has done no one any favors. Those who are here deserve to be here and the door is open for everyone in the future as long as I am coach.

When I was offered to take over, I couldn’t refuse so easily. You never say no to your home country” he told us proudly with Thomas Walkup next to him, an American who plays like a Greek!

And we don’t mean with the Greek passport, but with the Greek soul, the Greek heart, the Greek passion.

“Say that again” Kill Bill said to us as he left, having earlier taken credit from all his players.

“I’m glad we started with a win mainly because of this man next to me” Walkup said at the press conference while a little earlier in the mixed zone he had confessed to us.

“It is a blessing to play under the instructions of this man who transmits his passion and values ​​to you when you see how many hours he spends in basketball and the honor he feels for the National team.”

A little further on, another MVP (together with Walkup and Papanikolaou, they made up the super trio against the Czech Republic), Dinos Mitoglou, revealed his feelings to us.

“First of all, I wish him a good start. It is about a huge personality that gave us from the first second he spoke to us to understand what this jersey means.”

Friday night with good weather and 12,439 people chose to go down to SEF and do a sold out EuroBasket qualifying match against the Czech Republic where 3 of the 4 teams in the group qualify and Greece has basically passed before even… playing.

But this is exactly the aura of Vassilis Spanoulis who covered everything in his debut and left behind only smiles with the wish that the continuation will be the same and better.