Basketball – “Ilias Papatheodorou ticked a lot of boxes”

Erik Lehmann, how did you proceed in your search fore new coach?

First of all, we have become a very “bankable” selection, because our team is progressing and more and more club coaches enjoy working during the international windows. As for the recruiting process, we just posted a job offer, we didn’t contact anyone. Ilias applied, like everyone else. We received between 50 and 70 applications, some of which were more or less eccentric. Then we drew up a short-list of 7 or 8 names, with whom we conducted in-depth interviews.

What were your criteria?

The sine qua non condition is that we wanted a club coach who does not work in Switzerland and has the experience of a national team. Ilias ticked a lot of boxes (Editor’s note: finalist of the 2020 Champions League at the head of AEK Athens and assistant in the Greece team, he also led the Greek European champions U18 in 2015 and U20 in 2017). He is a young renowned coach who is rising in Greek basketball.

What did you know about him at that time?

To be honest, I didn’t know him at all at first. Then I remembered that he had led a match in Friborg when he was coaching PAOK Salonika, during the 2018-2019 season. I was in the room that night, and I remembered that his team had played really well. When his name appeared among the nominations, it was discussed with Andrej Stimac (Editor’s note: former assistant to Petar Aleksic at FR Olympic). He also remembered this match very well and told me that he was really won over by the game of his PAOK.

What tipped the scales in his favor?

His teams play basketball very well, with a big physical commitment. Our players will sweat (smile). We should play with a lot of intensity. In fact, he is a fan of modern basketball, with offensive aggressiveness, a very high position on the passing lines… Many other coaches have this profile., but during our interview, we realized that he already had a very good knowledge of our basketball. We felt he was motivated to come a long way with us.

“We realized that he already had a very good knowledge of our basketball. We felt he was motivated to come a long way with us ”

Erik Lehmann, Technical Director of Swiss Basketball

For a team like Switzerland, who is looking to develop young talents, have Ilias Papatheodorou’s remarkable experiences with Greece’s Under-18s and Under-20s been a particular asset?

Yes, clearly. We have a lot of promising players who will join the A in the years to come. There is what he accomplished with young people, on the one hand, and the fact that with him, there is no privilege. Ilias gives everyone a chance.

Several sources indicate that in parallel with the Swiss selection, Ilias Papatheodorou wants to find the bench of a club, he who has been without a post since his departure from AEK Athens a few months ago. What is it?

Indeed, he should also take a club and it is a choice with which we are totally in agreement. It is even essential: it is not with his sole activity of coach of Switzerland that he will be able to live.

Is it possible to see him train en Swiss Basketball League?

With all due respect to them, Ilias is oversized for our clubs. It is not an option. He is more calibrated to exercise in major championships in Europe.

“Even with Gianluca Barilari, we already had high goals. The arrival of Ilias does not change anything in that “

Erik Lehmann, Technical Director of Swiss Basketball

A word on the composition of its staff. If he knows Dimitris Menoudakos well, Ilias Papatheodorou will have to learn to work with Patrick Pembele (second assistant), Louis Chavanton (physical trainer) and Paolo Di Gloria (Team Manager). Was it a will on your part or a choice constrained by financial limitations?

It was wanted. This kind of coachs always comes with at least one assistant and this is quite normal. Hence the arrival of Dimitris Menoudakos. For the rest, in all the discussions, we always had the idea of ​​having a Swiss coach in the staff. Already because we are keen to promote technicians from our country and it is important to rely on a coach who knows the players as well as their environment. We are very happys for finalizing an agreement with Patrick (editor’s note: Pembele, the BBC Monthey coach), because it is a young Swiss coach who is rising.

You have set the goal of going as far as possible in qualifying for the 2023 World Cup and, above all, to participate in Euro 2025. Will the arrival of a coach of the size of Does Ilias Papatheodorou raise your expectations?

Not especially, because even with Gianluca Barilari (editor’s note: the previous coach), we already had high goals. The arrival of Ilias does not change anything in that, we will continue to follow the path we imagine. Afterwards, the coaches are on the bench and the players on the field, so it will also be up to them to raise their level.

Posted today at 10:41 a.m.

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