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Monday, September 22, 2008
 Anyone who has been lucky enough to play in the Euroleague once always wants to do it again. That was my case, and now I have that chance. I am Ivan Zoroski of Panionios On Telecoms, and let me tell you that I am really happy, first of all, to be playing in the Euroleague again this season. I was there with Olympiacos a few seasons ago, and after some injuries and changing teams, going back to the Euroleague is exactly what I hoped for at this time in my career. We did a great job last year, and I really think it's the best thing that could have happened to me and to Panionios.
If you didn't hear about how we qualified, it was really dramatic. I came to the club just before last season, and even then, the fans were dreaming of the Euroleague. The favorites last year to make the Euroleague again was probably Aris. But in the Greek League's third-place series, played to reach the Euroleague, we found ourselves behind 0-2 against Maroussi. We had to win two games on the road first, but we came back and did it, setting up the fifth game at home. It was a very tough series, but we had to win it for our fans. This is a big club with a long history and devoted fans. We won that fifth game at home with a great atmosphere and a huge celebration at the end. It felt great to make the dream of the fans come true and to give them such a big present. Now, we'll have a lot of big teams coming to our gym this season, which is what both us and the fans wanted. It will be great.
I will talk about our team a little more in-depth in the next blog, but I must say that already I am quite comfortable with our new coach, Aleksander Trifunovic. I knew Alex to be a very good coach already from his time at Red Star in Serbia, where both of us are from. Now, I think he has proven that he's one of the best young coaches in Europe, with a great future. He showed he can handle big teams, because he did it last season with Lietuvos Rytas in the Euroleague. And I don't see any reason why he can't continue to have success again this year with us.
Like a lot of other teams, we have been missing players who are on their national teams. There are seven of us from last year, but several new important pieces to the roster, as well. We are trying to get to know each other, trying to improve some things and set up the ways we want to play this season. We still have three more weeks before the Greek League starts, and Alex has us doing great work in practice. We will be there again among the top Greek teams, I am sure, but I really hope for a good performance in the Euroleague, too.
For sure, the competition has changed since I was in it a few years ago, because it's much, much stronger now. I think that this year for sure will be the strongest Euroleague ever, maybe the strongest in the history of European competitions. All teams tried to build the best rosters and there are at least seven with enormous budgets to make great teams. I know, because some of them are in our group! At least three of them will be trying for the Final Four, and we play them the first three weeks: Real Madrid away, CSKA at home and Efes Pilsen away! It'll be very tough, but I wouldn't want it any other way, because I have missed playing in the Euroleague. It's the best competition out there, and I personally like to play against all the big teams and big players. I can't wait to get started!
POSTED BY
Ivan Zoroski, Athens
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