Author Topic: Rick Pitino agrees to coach EuroLeague power Panathinaikos  (Read 3933 times)

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Rick Pitino agrees to coach EuroLeague power Panathinaikos
« on: December 20, 2018, 06:25:27 PM »

Offline rondofan1255

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http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/25581732/rick-pitino-deal-coach-euroleague-power-panathinaikos-greece

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Rick Pitino agrees to coach EuroLeague power Panathinaikos

Rick Pitino has agreed to a deal to coach EuroLeague power Panathinaikos of Greece for the rest of the season, his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, told ESPN on Thursday.


Pitino, a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, is expected to coach his first game on Dec. 27.

Pitino's goal is to return to the NBA as a head coach, and his hope is that the Panathinaikos job can be a steppingstone to achieving that.

Pitino, 66, fired a year ago amid an FBI probe at Louisville, will travel to Athens shortly after Christmas to take over a talented, but underachieving, roster that includes several former NBA players.

The Athens team is expected to part ways with its coach, Xavi Pascual, to clear the way for Pitino, sources told ESPN.

Pitino recently told ESPN that he hoped for an opportunity to return to the NBA as a coach. He has been radioactive among NBA and major college basketball programs since his scandalous end at Louisville in October 2017, but modern basketball history regards him as one of the great teachers, tacticians and motivators in the sport.

Panathinaikos has started 6-7 in EuroLeague, leaving the team in 10th place. The owner, Dimitrios Giannakopoulos, has a volcanic reputation in Europe. He was fined 150,000 euros in 2015 for barging into the referee's room and threatening to kill the officials and their families after a playoff victory over CSKA Moscow.

Panathinaikos' roster includes Nick Calathes, Georgios Papagiannis, Keith Langford, Deshaun Thomas, James Gist and Thanasis Antetokounmpo, the older brother of Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Pitino has had three runs in professional basketball: Boston Celtics president and coach, New York Knicks coach and Knicks assistant coach.

Pitino was fired at Louisville in the aftermath of the FBI probe into college basketball. Testimony and recordings of government-taped calls suggested that Pitino was unaware of the payments made to former Louisville recruit Brian Bowen's family.

The FBI probe was the final in a series of scandals at Louisville -- including an NCAA investigation into strippers and prostitutes used in recruiting visits with players at the school.

Before the scandal that ousted him at Louisville, Pitino authored a legendary college career. He won two national championships (1996 and 2013) and reached five Final Fours. He was 647-392 overall.

Pitino resigned from the Celtics early in his fourth season in 2001 with a 102-146 record. He was considered to have been overwhelmed with dual roles after signing pro sports' biggest coaching/executive deal to date (10 years, $70 million). He resigned with nearly $30 million left on the deal.

"I'm not looking for any of that [power/control] at this stage of my life," Pitino told ESPN recently. "I want to develop teams and develop players and build a winner. I value analytics. I want to fit into an organization. At this stage, that's all I'm interested in."

Pitino had a shorter, but more successful, run as coach of the Knicks in the late 1980s, winning an Atlantic Division title and reaching the playoffs twice (1988 and 1989) before leaving for Kentucky. Under Pitino, the Knicks won 52 regular-season games and reached the conference semifinals in his final season with the team.

Re: Rick Pitino agrees to coach EuroLeague power Panathinaikos
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2018, 07:26:47 PM »

Offline JSD

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"This whole continent sucks! and it stinks!"
The only color that matters is GREEN

Re: Rick Pitino agrees to coach EuroLeague power Panathinaikos
« Reply #2 on: December 22, 2018, 08:30:03 AM »

Offline ederson

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This is going to be very interesting.... In Greek sports things work a bit differently than the rest of.the world.

Re: Rick Pitino agrees to coach EuroLeague power Panathinaikos
« Reply #3 on: December 22, 2018, 08:38:21 AM »

Offline Celtics4ever

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Pitino is a scumbag and will find a way to ruin this team as well.

Re: Rick Pitino agrees to coach EuroLeague power Panathinaikos
« Reply #4 on: December 22, 2018, 09:07:24 AM »

Offline PAOBoston

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Scumbag owner hires scumbag coach.

It’s a PR move. Dude is there for a vacation. He’ll be lucky to make it to the end of the season.

Re: Rick Pitino agrees to coach EuroLeague power Panathinaikos
« Reply #5 on: December 22, 2018, 09:10:56 AM »

Offline Jvalin

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Quote from: Rick Pitino
I'm not looking for any of that [power/control] at this stage of my life. I want to develop teams and develop players and build a winner. I value analytics. I want to fit into an organization. At this stage, that's all I'm interested in.
Panathinaikos is a basketball powerhouse in Europe. Their owner is notoriously short-tempered. He will be expecting immediate results.

I have a feeling this won't end well.

Re: Rick Pitino agrees to coach EuroLeague power Panathinaikos
« Reply #6 on: December 22, 2018, 10:04:44 AM »

Offline PAOBoston

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Quote from: Rick Pitino
I'm not looking for any of that [power/control] at this stage of my life. I want to develop teams and develop players and build a winner. I value analytics. I want to fit into an organization. At this stage, that's all I'm interested in.
Panathinaikos is a basketball powerhouse in Europe. Their owner is notoriously short-tempered. He will be expecting immediate results.

I have a feeling this won't end well.
I basically stopped following them closely because of the owner. Dude is scum. And yes, Putin’s will be out by summertime. Zero chance he gets to “build” anything there.

Re: Rick Pitino agrees to coach EuroLeague power Panathinaikos
« Reply #7 on: December 25, 2018, 04:17:11 PM »

Offline rondofan1255

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https://www.talkbasket.net/34334-rick-pitino-confirms-he-will-take-over-panathinaikos

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Rick Pitino took to Twitter and revealed he will take over Panathinaikos and will become the new head coach of the “Greens”.

The 66-year-old coach will arrive in Athens on Wednesday (26/12) and will coach his first game against CSKA Moscow on Friday (28/12).

Pitino: "Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! I want to thank Dimitris Giannakopoulos for the unique opportunity to coach Panathinaikos -great tradition. I’m fired up to help!"



Re: Rick Pitino agrees to coach EuroLeague power Panathinaikos
« Reply #8 on: December 26, 2018, 08:29:00 AM »

Offline ederson

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https://www.talkbasket.net/34334-rick-pitino-confirms-he-will-take-over-panathinaikos

Quote
Rick Pitino took to Twitter and revealed he will take over Panathinaikos and will become the new head coach of the “Greens”.

The 66-year-old coach will arrive in Athens on Wednesday (26/12) and will coach his first game against CSKA Moscow on Friday (28/12).

Pitino: "Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! I want to thank Dimitris Giannakopoulos for the unique opportunity to coach Panathinaikos -great tradition. I’m fired up to help!"


It will be certainly unique working with this owner (dolan compared to him is a baby) and the atmosphere he will meet in somea games will be like nothing he's ever seen

Interesting choice of words.. Fired up... Considering he is a lock to be fired


Well he arrived in Athens and he sure knows what he is doing. He was wearing a panathinaikos scarf

Re: Rick Pitino agrees to coach EuroLeague power Panathinaikos
« Reply #9 on: December 26, 2018, 11:11:04 AM »

Offline konkmv

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Whoever says giannakopoulos is a scum does not know what he and especially his father has done for panathinaikos... yes he is a little crazy but he does not accept defeat..dolan is a looser... and to be honest he has kept panathinaikos in a winning mode even though it's difficult to keep a competitive team in greece a country with so many financial problems... and a constant war from euroleague.. with referees playing them 0-100 every night.. i have read about pitino's era in boston.. but he is not a bad coach..

Re: Rick Pitino agrees to coach EuroLeague power Panathinaikos
« Reply #10 on: December 26, 2018, 11:22:18 AM »

Offline konkmv

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And to be sincere every nba team who gives a coach a manager or president role looses its hierarchy... the coach thinks he is god... and he destroys the team..even if he is a good one

Re: Rick Pitino agrees to coach EuroLeague power Panathinaikos
« Reply #11 on: December 26, 2018, 11:46:57 AM »

Offline hwangjini_1

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This is going to be very interesting.... In Greek sports things work a bit differently than the rest of.the world.
how so?
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Re: Rick Pitino agrees to coach EuroLeague power Panathinaikos
« Reply #12 on: December 26, 2018, 12:49:52 PM »

Offline ederson

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This is going to be very interesting.... In Greek sports things work a bit differently than the rest of.the world.
how so?
Take a look... Last season's finals
https://youtu.be/z5jrW3Tc0tc

Too much fanatism and absolutely zero patience. Losing is not allowed especially in the Greek league. You can have 'fans' waiting for you before practice, after practice, in front of your house asking for explanations... And not in a very polite way. Losing to the Greek league's suns would have had the players under siege in the locker room till dawn.

Xavi Pascual the previous coach won in 2 seasons 2 league titles one Greek cup and was voted both times COY. And got fired.

He will luckily for him the endless help from the refs.

Re: Rick Pitino agrees to coach EuroLeague power Panathinaikos
« Reply #13 on: January 04, 2019, 03:42:18 PM »

Offline ederson

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a tweet from Pitino's son

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“Mr. Official....Wait...what are those nets around the court for?”  “It’s just to prevent the fans from throwing things at you coach”