Sylvain Francisco, one of Panathinaikos's standout signings ahead of the new season, said the club has assembled a talented squad but still needs to find its chemistry before it can live up to the hype. The French guard spoke to Serbian outlet Mozzart Sport about working under new head coach Zeljko Obradovic, his relationship with Greek international Kostas Sloukas, and the team's potential this season.
Panathinaikos has drawn widespread attention this summer for its transfer activity and the return of Obradovic to the bench. The buzz has reached international media, with Spanish outlet El Mundo Deportivo describing the club's roster as one that inspires fear in opponents. The open question, as Francisco acknowledged, is how quickly that roster can come together.
Learning from Obradovic and Sloukas
Francisco said he has learned something from every coach he has worked with, and that in Athens he wants to understand the game a little differently. He said Obradovic has won numerous titles, but what stood out to him was the relationship the coach built with Sloukas, which he called very important. Since Sloukas will also be on the roster, Francisco said he expects to learn from his new teammate as well.
He said he also wants the coach to help him refine his game further, particularly his understanding of the pick and roll. Francisco described himself as already strong in that area but said he believes there is more he can do to become more effective, including improving his movement without the ball.
He said preseason is the right time for that kind of adjustment, noting there is always a period in which a coach and a player work to understand one another. He said a coach likely knows a player's game but not the player himself as well as the player knows himself, and that the reverse is also true. Francisco said there will be things Obradovic explains that he will not grasp at first, and vice versa, but that once both sides understand where a player has freedom to act, everything falls into place. He recalled that he found the right way of working with a coach he referred to as Thomas in the past, and said finding that chemistry is what matters most.
Managing expectations for a stacked roster
Asked about the heightened expectations surrounding Panathinaikos following its summer transfers, Francisco said he does not view the team as an All-Star collection. He said the club clearly has a great and highly talented squad, but the real question facing everyone is how they will all play together.
He said finding a way to play as a unit and cooperate is exactly what the team needs to work out, and predicted the start of the season will likely be difficult. Once the players find a way to fit together, he said, the team can become a frightening one for opponents.
Francisco added that a team can have every ingredient of a dream roster and still end up winning nothing. For that reason, he said he is staying grounded, taking things step by step with his new teammates and focusing on building genuine chemistry with them.
About the club
Panathinaikos is one of Greece's most decorated basketball clubs, competing in both the EuroLeague and the Greek Basket League. Obradovic is one of the most successful coaches in European basketball history, having won multiple EuroLeague titles across his career, and his return to Panathinaikos has been a major storyline of the club's offseason alongside its transfer business.
