Nick Calathes (33 years old and 1.98 m) left Barcelona this summer after two seasons in which he won two Copas del Rey and one Endesa League. His new destination, the Turkish Fenerbahçedespite having one more year of contract with the azulgrana team, which no longer had him after a rather lackluster end of the course and information that pointed to a estrangement with coach Sarunas Jasikevicius.
“It is something that had not happened to me in my entire career. It was hard because I couldn’t really understand what was going on”, assures Calathes about how he left Barça on Turkish sports television S-Sport (via BasketNews). “In the end, I’m happy because everything went well, to have finished here. I think it was a great decision for me to come here and I think it will fit in really well.”
The Greek international wanted to delve into his sporting relationship with Jasikevicius. On the role of his former boss in the game that the azulgranas display on the pitch. “As a player, you want to have some freedom. I’m not 20 years old, I know how to play. There was more of a system, Saras controlled him more. I think that coach Itoudis gives the players more freedom here, he tells them what to do on the pitch, but he also has a lot of confidence in you, he believes in you. He lets you control the game”, he underlines.
“I think as a point guard I have an idea of what happens during the game. Maybe you have a better idea of what the coach sees from the sidelines.. If you give the player the freedom to make these decisions, I think at the end of a long season you will bring out the best in the player and I think you will bring out the best in the team,” he continues. “As a player, it’s what you want. I’m not saying that Saras controlled everything, but you want to play more freely. Obviously, you need to be controlled at times, but it’s a give and take. Sometimes you have to let your players play the game.”