Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv’s Greek duo, Theo Papaloukas and Sofo Schortsanitis, landed in Israel early Saturday morning and were greeted by dozens of fans.
By Amy Samin
At the crack of dawn Saturday morning, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv’s two Greek players, newly-acquired guard Theo Papaloukas and center Sofo Schortsanitis (starting his second season with the team) arrived in Israel. In spite of the early hour, dozens of Maccabi fans decked out in yellow and blue were waiting at Ben Gurion Airport to give the pair an enthusiastic welcome.
Papaloukas told reporters: “Some guys from the team told me, but I didn’t expect at 4:00 in the morning that people would come here to welcome me. It’s a great feeling and I want to thank them. It makes me feel a big obligation to play really well for them and to help the team go higher than last season.”
Regarding his decision to come to Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv, the 34 year old guard said, “It was a very easy decision for me. I was looking for a high-level Euroleague team and Maccabi is one of the best teams from last season. They have a great administration, great players, and most important for me, a great coach. As soon as I spoke to Coach Blatt and he explained everything to me, I agreed and I understood that this was going to be my next station. Of course there are other places I would probably make more money, but I wanted to play for a team like Maccabi with its incredible fans, to play in Nokia Arena, and to have the chance to win in the Euroleague and of course titles in the Israeli League and the Adriatic League.”
“I understand how organized the club is from the way they welcomed me to the team, that they are so well-organized is very important for me. I want to just do my best. I have to concentrate very hard and work to help the team to go higher.”
In response to a reporter’s comment that he has a “new friend in Maccabi” Sofo replied, “He’s more like my mentor. When I was on the [Greek] National Team when I was 16 years old, we shared a room and he taught me how to live away [from home] when you’re traveling all the time. I’m really happy that he’s here…There are a lot of changes in Maccabi. Now Derrick Sharp is going to lead us as an assistant coach, and we’re going to have another league to play in.”
At 15:00 Saturday, Devin Smith and Richard Hendrix will arrive in Israel.
