Hi to everybody from Athens once more... Last time for this season... I am writing to you feeling happy... Just happy... We accomplished our goal, getting the Turkish Airlines Euroleague title. Panathinaikos's sixth title! We felt great joy and lived great moments that are difficult to describe. It's not the first day after the final, not even the second, but the feelings remain the same. It is impossible to forget what we experienced in Barcelona, not to mention all that took place upon our arrival to Greece. We found out that we were not alone; almost 2,000 Panathinaikos fans were waiting for us at 4:30 in the morning and followed us with motorbikes and cars all the way to OAKA. It's unbelievable to see and feel all this love, to see so many happy faces in a difficult period for Greece. We had our difficult times, too, as a team.

It was a strange season for us, because nobody believed in us when everything started. Important players had left the team during the summer, some other players came along… The season could have been a transitional year, since new players were added. But we managed to get to the highest place in the Euroleague once more. It was very important for us, for the effort we made since the beginning of the season. Only thing is that we could not hang on to this joy too much, given fact that the final for the Greek Cup against Olympiacos is just ahead of us, on Sunday, just a week after the Euroleague final. This is the life of a basketball player, of an athlete in general. To go from one goal to another, to try to achieve more and more, to be ready for the next game no matter what has happened in the previous one. We must always try for the best. The entire... more

Hi to everybody from Athens! Yes, we are still here at home, but counting backwards the days until our takeoff and journey to Barcelona. Now, we can think – and say that we are thinking – exclusively about the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four. Up until now, we were tip-toeing between our "must-dos" and the fast-approaching reality of the Final Four.

We had a few days off during Easter and that gave us the chance to relax and to spend time with our families. It was something we needed, something that helped us to charge our batteries, considering the fact that it will be nonstop basketball from now on. We have the the Euroleague Final Four, the playoffs in Greece and the final of the Greek Cup ahead of us; a full schedule till the end of the season.

We played our first two games of the playoffs for the Greek League already. We swept Peristeri by 2-0. I must admit it was not easy to focus on those two games, but we had to. We needed those two victories first in order to focus our minds 100% on the preparation for the Final Four and, of course, to advance to the second phase of the playoffs in Greece. We had two good games, but now we have to go the other way: We must forget about the Greek League and steer our heads towards Europe, towards the Euroleague.

Our next rival is Montepaschi Siena. Most of us already know some things about our opponent. All of us know very well that... more

Hi to everybody from Athens! We're still here, still fighting to achieve our goals for this season... Which are actually the goals we set for every season, summed up in just one phrase: get titles! We are coming of a Greek League game against Olympiacos, which of course is one strong game to have before getting to the Final Four, but we still have other games on our schedule to be played before we get on the plane to Barcelona. We should have played better and stronger against Olympiacos; we lost our chance to end up in the first position in the Greek League regular season. That doesn't change a thing for us regarding the title in the Greek League. We are second right now, but well try to beat our rivals during playoffs, in order see Panathinaikos being crowned champion one more time. But we have time to think about it. Now our mind is set on more games coming in the Greek League and, of course, Barcelona.

We are entering the final stage of our preparation for the Final Four. We won't have a lot of games to prepare ourselves, so we are going to need strong practices on a daily basis. We must be focused 100 percent each and every day. Our goal is to get the win against Montepaschi Siena on May 6.

We know that we must think of the games that we have prior to that game, and we are working hard in order to be in a position to play in the best possible way and to reach victories. It's also almost... more

Hi to everybody from Athens!

We haven't done anything yet… There are still two games to go… I know I started out without any "intro", but this is exactly how we feel. Our goal was to get to the Final Four. Now, a new goal is set. We want the title, knowing very well that it's not going to be easy. It's never easy.

We got the ticket to the Final Four by winning three games in a row against Barcelona. Right now, we feel justified. Almost nobody was willing to bet on us. Everybody was ready to judge us after the defeat against Lietuvos Rytas in the Top 16 that meant we would face Barcelona without a homecourt advantage in the Playoffs. All we were hearing was that it was OK that we made it until the quarterfinals, and that they would still support us no matter what. But for us it was not "OK". We worked very hard; all this criticism got the team together even more. The coaches were there to help us. They watched and analyzed I don't know how many Barcelona games, they made the plan, they helped us with the tactics and they showed us what was possible for us to do, our potential against them. They did a great job in every aspect.

I think the most difficult game of the series was the second one. It was hard on us emotionally after losing the first game just by one point. We had to handle our emotions and get out on the court again in 48 hours. And then we found ourselves losing by 16 points. What we did there and then was unbelievable. We found the heart to do make it through, bringing the series back to OAKA. At home, we didn't want to let the chance slip out of our hands. There was pressure, but we played in front of a fantastic, amazing group of... more