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Wesley Johnson spoke not exactly flattering words about Rick Pitino.
On the “The Scorer’s Table” podcast, the American said he enjoyed the Panathinaikos experience, but not the way he worked with his compatriot coach.
“There have been many scary stories that do not pay and various things like that. I had no expectations of going there. I wanted to play because last season was weird, with many ups and downs. I wanted another situation for myself.
I went there and it was crazy. People were crazy. They lit flares during the race, they launched them. It was like the atmosphere of a college championship for ten. Crazy. Adrenaline was high.
Going there, I felt again that I wanted to play and be a basketball player again. Panathinaikos fired the coach after a match. It was crazy. We lost a game that we shouldn’t have lost, but that was for the second extra time. But the rivals were very hot and they scored from all sides. After the game he arrived, he didn’t say anything to us, there was no speech.
Pitino had arrived two games before and had seen the team. He was also the coach last season, in between. There were rumors that he would return and eventually return. Pitino thought he was back in Louisville. He told me to push all over the field and I thought “come on, nobody is pushing at every stage.”
Dude, we’ve had 30+ players on the team like Nick Kalathis, Tyrese Rice and we’ve had young players that didn’t play. And it made us push like we were 17.
It didn’t exactly feel like everyone was still a professional. I understand that you have a career plan, but you have to manage professionals. He stayed true in his own way and didn’t fit in well with the team. Yes, it was successful with Louisville. We were in the Euroleague on two completely different paths. “It was definitely a very good experience for me,” he said.
ON DEMAND: All reports on the official bwinSPORT FM channel on youtube
