Dimitris Itoudis criticizes the EuroLeague's "three sports in one" structure, highlighting inconsistencies in the competition.
Dimitris Itoudis has a long story of coaching EuroLeague powerhouses, winning the strongest European league in 2016 and 2019 with CSKA. But the developments in the league are not satisfying him.
| Player of the Game | |
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EFF
37
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| Anthony Cowan | |
| Points | 28 |
| Accuracy | 8-15 |
| Rebounds | 4 |
| Assists | 10 |
After Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv's 104-100 EuroCup loss to Wolves Vilnius on Wednesday, Itoudis was asked about the decision to hold the 2025 EuroLeague Final Four in Abu Dhabi, given his role as head coach of a Middle Eastern team.
"They had the right to vote, right? So, they voted and chose this. A good choice, not a good choice -- I'm a fan of playoffs. I'm a fan of expansion. EuroLeague needs to be expanded more with more teams," Itoudis started his rant about the EuroLeague.
"And with more teams that have financial stability and a vision. They need to join the best competition in Europe, which is the EuroLeague.
I'm talking about that the last decade while I was going with my team CSKA six times straight in Final Fours. Winning or losing, I was talking about expansion, I was talking about playoffs. With all due respect to the Final Four, in Europe, we have a three-dimensional way of playing the game," he went on to say.
"Why? Because we start with the round-robin system. Everybody's playing like a championship in all sports: home away, home away. Then, we go back to the NBA system, which is playoffs, and we end with the NCAA system. So, in one competition, we have three different ways of playing the game. What is that? I don't wanna mention the different approaches to the officiating way and officiating rules.
So, we're pretty much saying to our fans we have three different sports. There are different ways of dimension, rules, and time in the NCAA, different rules, time, and dimensions in the NBA, and different rules in the EuroLeague. Also, the EuroLeague has local leagues. Soccer has the same rules, same everything."
Itoudis' frustration wasn't just about the EuroLeague.
The team also missed star guard Patrick Beverley, who is sidelined for six weeks with a quadriceps tear.
"We missed him. We are gonna miss him for a long time," Itoudis said. "I haven't worked with him much because we had the games and troubles and everything. That's also another important fact for us because we're playing pretty much every game on the road. Almost every game for us is on the road.
"So, we hope that he's going to come back healthy. It's good to work with him. I have worked with many great players in my career so far."
While Hapoel was battling Wolves, Beverley released a new podcast episode on YouTube, where he addressed concerns about his future, confirming he would stay in Israel despite earlier uncertainties.
Asked about Pat Beverley's situation, Itoudis acknowledged the impact of the uncertainty:
"Well, that's something that hurt us also. He said that, the other said that, I don't know what he says. I'm not following [his podcasts]. I know what he says to me," Itoudis noted. "Somebody's leaving, somebody's coming. How are we gonna become a team if everybody is not locked in? This is what we are missing. Everybody has to be locked in, and we gotta be nasty."
Wolves-Hapoel highlights:
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