Keifer Sykes is young, motivated and will give us a lot energy: that’s why we wanted him, but no Olimpia player is going to leave, at this time. Unfortunately, like almost everyone in EuroLeague, we have had injuries and must protect ourselves. We also count on Nedovic’s quick return because he is the player we really need,” Olimpia general manager Christos Stavropoulos said, while introducing the new point guard who will make his EuroLeague debut on Friday against Zenit St. Petersburg.
About the debut – “I want to represent the club well, I want to represent myself well, just play hard, bring a lot of energy, toughness, leadership. This is what this team needs, what the coach needs, the general manager needs, and my job is to do whatever it takes to get wins. I am excited to be out there and help the team.”
Coach Messina – “I played under him for a couple of months in San Antonio. I played last year in Avellino and played seven times against Milan, and that makes me even more excited to play for such a glorious club. Playing under a coach I have already been under made me more interested to come here. He just asked me to be the same player that I am, like I said he knows me, he knows my background, where I come from and he wants me to represent me the same way, bring the same energy, the same toughness, and be myself. This makes the partnership with the club much more meaningful to me because they didn’t ask me to come in and change my game and do things differently. Just come in and be me. All my life I have always been all about bettering my teams, so I’m excited to be here and be able to help this team.”
About the Italian league and the EuroLeague – “The Italian league is strong, it’s good that I got to seat and watch the game (on Sunday), because it seems like it’s getting stronger. The EuroLeague is obviously has the best teams, the best overseas. It’s going to be strong competitions, but that’s what I trained for, that’s why I worked hard all these year, to get to this level, play for a club like this, where the stakes are high, the pressure is high. Some players fold under that pressure, but I like that pressure, I think it brings out the best of me, brings the best out of my game, it makes me go to the gym every day and work harder. The nights when I don’t have a great game make me realize what I need to work on and continue to improve my game. I know when I signed up, I came to play for a club with great players and coaches and put myself in a position to win a championship. But I know that this takes a supreme level of performance and confidence. I’m looking forward to it, I just don’t play to play at a mediocre level, I want to push myself to be the best I can be. The EuroLeague and the Italian league I know will do wonder to my game.”
Sergio Rodriguez – “He played in the NBA, he won a lot with the Spanish national team. As I said, I came to find around great coaches and great players. Luis Scola and Vlado Micov too: I came to learn from these guys and take my game to another level. There are many things I want to learn from him, he will make my transition easier and give me the opportunity to be a better player. Playing alongside him is a blessing, playing at the EuroLeague level for the first time. I’m a student of the game, I want to learn and while I have enough confidence to be able to take advantage of my qualities, at the same time I can learn a lot of things and I want to use these six months to pick his brain as much as I can, and form the other guys that we have in the locker room.”
