Comments from Giannis Kastritis ahead of the Pallacanestro Openjobmetis Varese-Virtus Costa Bologna game:
«We’re excited and optimistic as we look ahead to the start of the season. It’s true that so far we haven’t had the chance to play together as a full team, but I see a team that’s training very well and developing good chemistry. Every day we push ourselves to the limit to maintain a high standard of work, and I believe that if we continue on this path, we’ll be able to grow as the season progresses and strive to achieve the goals we’ve set for ourselves. The most important thing will be to stay united, keep working together, and build our team culture day by day. Clearly, McDowell-White’s injury isn’t good news. Up until now, we’d been managing him carefully precisely because we wanted to take it easy on him, but unfortunately, this problem arose at the start of this week. We can’t be happy about losing one of our starters on the eve of the league’s opening day, but these are situations that are part of a season, and we have to be ready to deal with them. We’ll find solutions because we have great confidence in our players and in the work they’re doing. We’ve built a deep roster precisely because we know we’ll have to compete in two leagues and, at the same time, be ready to handle situations like this. That’s why the overall picture doesn’t change: the guys are working hard and performing well every day, and we need to keep it up. I believe that quality and depth are precisely two of this team’s main strengths, and we’ll need to be good at capitalizing on them. Virtus Bologna? We’ve had the chance to study them extensively; they’re a team that tries to play with great energy, an aggressive defense, and a lot of pressure on the ball. They try to increase their number of possessions through offensive rebounds as well, so it will be crucial for us to control the pace of the game. They’re a new team that’s currently using a lot of players and making frequent substitutions precisely to keep their energy level high at all times. For our part, however, we don’t want to drastically change our style of play based on who we’re facing. In a few weeks, we’ll start playing twice a week, and we’ll need to be able to maintain our identity and control what’s within our power. We want to play with energy, especially in this early stage of the season. At the start of the year, it’s never easy to prepare for a game in detail, but that goes for our opponents as well. That’s precisely why it becomes even more important to focus on our strengths and what we can bring to the court. We also know there are high expectations surrounding us, but when I decided to come to Varese, we expected to reach this point: to be in a position to compete for our goals. I must thank the management and the club for building this team. Even more than external expectations, we have high expectations of ourselves. I’m grateful to be here and to have the chance to work under these conditions. That’s why we’re here; that’s what we train for, and we’re excited to have the opportunity to try to achieve something significant. We know our fans can be incredibly passionate and supportive of the team. We’ve never had any doubts about their support, because they’ve proven they’re always there for us, even in the toughest moments. We hope they’ll be proud of what they see on the field. At the same time, a little patience will be needed, because we’re a new team and we’ll be competing in two tournaments. We know expectations are high, but I believe we have the right know-how to find the solutions we’ll need together. There will inevitably be ups and downs throughout the season, but the goal is to improve game by game. I’m convinced our fans will enjoy the ride with us».