Panathinaikos will need time, but it can become… a formidable team, as Sylvain Francisco said in an interview with Mozzart Sport. The French guard talked about how he left Partizan, flirted with the NBA, but ended up coming from… Mykonos to the “clover,” and expressed his eagerness to work with Željko Obradović.
Specifically, he spoke about:
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Countdown to the Panathinaikos derby
-the reason he decided to leave Villeurbanne: “When they were rejected for a second time by the regulatory authority, I wanted to leave. Tony Parker did the best he could. He tried to make sure we had everything we needed. We had to wait for certain things to be resolved. We spoke with Tony Parker again, and he said something like, “Yeah, it’s time for you to leave,” because things were getting more and more complicated and, honestly, a little scary. At that point, I was trying to find another middle ground, and I told my agent, “Okay, I think now is the time for us to leave.” But it’s important that Tony Parker let us leave. My house was already ready. Everything was ready; everything had been taken care of. My house had been ready since July 20. I was just waiting for everything to be in order so I could move in. I was absolutely ready to be there. I had everything organized and was really excited. I had a few meetings with Tony Parker, along with my agent, and everything was looking really good. But when they told us again what had happened, I said, “Yeah, guys, I think it’s time for me to leave.” I had the feeling that if I stayed, everyone would get the money they were supposed to get. Everything was settled, but in the end, most of them couldn’t even join the team.”
-Panathinaikos’ interest and how the deal came about: “I was in Mykonos. I had just landed. I didn’t even know what was going on. I was waiting for my luggage when they called me right away. I was patient the whole time. I told myself, ‘Everything’s fine,’ and so on. But I think that sometimes you need some kind of assurance; you need better communication. When they called me then, they explained the situation to me again and what had happened. I said, ‘Yes, it’s time for me to leave.’”
-On working with Obradović: “I’ve learned a lot from every coach I’ve worked with. Here, I want to understand the game a little better, in a different way. Zeliko has won a lot of trophies, but one of the things I noticed was the relationship he had with Sloukas. That’s very important to me. Sloukas will also be there, so I can learn from him. But I also want to learn from the coach, fine-tune my game even further, and understand the pick-and-roll. I’m good at the pick-and-roll, but I feel like there’s more I want to do to become even better, more effective, and also to learn how to play even better without the ball.”
-His room for improvement: “For me, there’s always something you can learn, even when you’re already an established point guard. There’s always something a coach can show you. I’m looking forward to that. I also remember the situation when he was at Partizan, back when Lesor was there, along with Pander, Exum, and all those guys. They didn’t really have a classic point guard. It was crazy, but it was great to see how he found a way to play the entire season with practically no real point guard and still make it to the playoffs.”
-Adapting to Obradović’s demands: “I think preseason is the right time for that sort of thing. There’s always a period during which the coach and the player try to understand each other. I always say that the coach probably knows my game, but he doesn’t know me as well as I know myself. The same goes for me. I know him, but I certainly don’t know him the way he knows himself and what he wants. There will be certain things he explains to me that I won’t understand at first, and vice versa. But when everything falls into place, when you understand what it’s all about, that’s the moment you have the freedom to do certain things. I’ve always said that Thomas Masiulis and I have found the right way to work together. You just have to find that chemistry, and once you do, everything will work out, for sure.”
-Panathinaikos’s very strong roster: “I don’t see it that way—as an All-Star team. I see that we have a great and very talented team, but there’s one question: how will we play together? That’s a question for all of us. That’s exactly what we need to figure out—a way to play together and work as a team. The start of the season will probably be tough. But once we figure out how to fit everyone in, this could be a formidable team. You can have a “dream team,” you can have everything, and in the end, you might not win anything. That’s why I’m keeping both feet on the ground, taking it step by step with the guys, and trying to build good chemistry with them.”
-On why he didn’t go to the NBA: “Honestly, it was the craziest summer I’ve ever had. But in the end, I was very patient. I didn’t want to give myself a headache, so I left everything to my agent. I tried to focus only on what was happening at that moment. I’ve always said that when someone from the NBA tells you, “Yeah, we’re interested,” it doesn’t mean anything on its own. As long as you don’t have concrete offers on the table, the situation is completely different. But this time, things were actually happening. It was like, “Okay, we want him.” But they wanted to trade a player, and that didn’t happen. I think things would have turned out differently if LeBron had signed earlier. I wasn’t too crazy about all that. I was a little sad and angry about the situation, but it was something I couldn’t control. So, in the end, I was at peace with it. But man, it was a crazy summer. Still, I feel like in the end I ended up in a place where I’m really glad I went.”
