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Nikos Zisis, Benetton

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At just 23 years old, Fan Mail guest Nikos Zisis of Benetton is already a European Championships and Italian League winner, a World Championships silver medalist and something of a survivor. All three of those prizes Zisis won during a year-long stretch in which he suffered two different serious injuries. When he's on the court, however, all seriousness belongs to Zisis. With a veteran's sense of responsibility, he runs a basketball team like almost nobody his age in the world. And as he says in his Fan Mail answers, having won titles already makes Zisis hungry for more. "For sure, I am young and I would like to add titltes," Zisis said. "The ultimate title is the Euroleague. This competition has the best players and teams and coaches in Europe, so I hope someday to take this title, too."

Hi Nikos! I'm a Panathinaikos and Zisis fan. You are a guard from the basketball instruction books! What about your health? Good luck with Benetton and best wishes for a great personal season.

Fotis - Greece

"I feel very good now. I have only a little bit of black around my eye, but that is nothing. It's not important, because I feel great. My motivation is good. The last few weeks, I have played without the mask, and that feels better too. I put this injury alreay in the past and don't think about it at all."

Hi Nikos. Glad to see you back to the court! Though you are very young, you have already achieved a lot in basketball. Which victory is the most precious to you and why? Also, what are other titles you would like to have in your collection? Good luck,

Milda - Lithuania

"I think the biggest victory until now, and one I will never forget is the gold medal in the European Championships of 2005, and for sure, despite the fact that I wasn't playing, our semifnal against the United States in the last World Championships that gave us the silver medal. Those two successes for our national team were like a dream come true. Since you are a kid, you dream about being on the national team and doing something like that, and for me to do it at an early age, twice in a row, the European Championships and the World Championships... like I said, a tream come true and something that makes me very proud. For sure, I am young and I would like to add titltes. The ultimate title is the Euroleague. This competition has the best players and teams and coaches in Europe, so I hope someday to take this title, too."

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Hi Nikos! Which is your biggest advantage and your biggest disadvantage as point guard? I think that you are very mature and I like your choices and when you have to take decisions under pressure. Continue like this and you will keep improving.

Giorgos - Greece

"I think my advantage is that I try to be calm and always take the right decisons. Whether I need to shoot, to create or to run some system, I try to do whatever the circumstances call for, just being calm and cooperating with the coach, doing what's best for the team. My disadvantage is probably shooting the triple outside the three-point line. I've had many ups and downs with that I try a lot to improve by working on it practice. Also, I don't create from the left side as well as from the right side, so I am working on that, too."

Dear Nikos. Thanks for all the good times. Who was your earliest mentor?

Luukas Kasekas - Greece

"I was in the YMCA in Thessaloniki as a kid and always had good coaches who taught me the secrets of basketball. Those were very nice years for me, but there are two coaches in particular who I want to mention because they watching them made me a better person as well as a better player. One is Nikos Kerameas, who was my coach on national junior teams and other teams. He taught me how to play and how to behave, too. Then, I want to mention the guy who brought me to AEK, where he was an assistant and then the head coach, Fotsis Katzikaris, who is now with Pamesa Valencia in Spain. I worked many hours with him. He was a guy who believed in me and tried to help me a lot. From these two guys, I got a lot of knowledge on how to play and how to behave as a professional."

Nikos, first of all, congratulations for a great run with the national team. You guys were great. Keep going and make Greek basketball proud. My question is: who do you think is the favorite for the Euroleague title? Do you believe Benetton is among the top competitors? We, the Cypriots, love you kid.

Andreas - Cyprus

"Benetton is a team that always is competitive and always does its best possible. OK, in my opinion, we're not one of the favorites to win the Euroleague. But for sure, whatever team we play will have a hard night with us. They will not have an easy game with Benetton. We are comeptitive, but maybe we miss something to be considered among the top, top teams of Europe. In my opinion, the favorites are CSKA again, Panathinaikos, Olympiacos and after those three maybe Tau Ceramica or Barcelona. I think that more or less those teams will fight each other to win the Euroleague."

Geia sou megale Niko! First of all, I wish you a full recovery from your injury last summer. My question is: what is your opinion about hooliganism and violence in sports, especially in Greece? What meassures should be taken to avoid this situation?

Kostas - Athens

"I would like to have the ability do something, but I do not. Every year there is talk about this, and for those of us who are Greek but playing outside of Greece, we understand now how different is the quality of fans outside. I can't blame all the fans in Greece, for sure. Most are great. I played in the Olympic Games in Greece and you could tell that they really liked to watch basketball. I think a very small part of the fans are like hooligans and go to gyms to fight opposing fans. All Greeks are not like that, of course. It's a small part, and the government or somebody can do something about that small part like England did with a small part of their fans in scoccer. Now, you don't see anymore news about English soccer fans. I think that Greek fans and people love basketball, love soccer, love sports in general, and I don't want to see a small part of them destroy everything and leave a bad impression of us all over Europe."

Hi Nikos. How is it to play for David Blatt? Is he a tough coach? Thanks,

Meir - Israel

"David Blatt is a great coach. His titles show that clearly. He was an important part of Maccabi with Pini Gershon when they won the Euroleague. After that, as head caoch in St. Petersburg, he won, too. And here in Italy last year, although we had many injury problems, he won what is a tough league to win, too. I think he knows well lthe secrests of basketball. He knows when to give motivation to the palyers, when to push and when to give credit. I think he's a great coach, and for me it has been a very good lesson working with him. He's in the elite of coaches in Europe, for sure."

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Geia sou Niko! Do you think of returning back home in the near future considering that the Greek teams are closer to the Euroleague title? Good luck this season both with your club and our national team!

Spyros and Antonis - Maroussi, Athens

"Because I am outside of Greece doesn't mean I will never come back. I have a contract and a team that believes in me, so I am not even thinking of anything like this now. But I can't say I'll never go back, either. Every summer, things chage, so you never know. I am just happy in my second year at Benetton. We won the Italian League last year and will try again. I cannot predict the future, and certainly I wouldn't say I will never go back to Greece. It's my country. If a team there really likes me a lot and one day wants to sign me, for sure I'll consider it."

Geia sou Niko! I hope you are better! This year you are going to play with Benetton against a lot of Greek friends - Barcelona and your national captain, Kakiouzis; CSKA and Papaloukas; and of course against Aris, a legendary basketball team of your hometown, Thessaloniki, the team where Panagiotis Yiannakis and Nikos Galis became heroes. How to you feel about all this?

Alexandra - Thessaloniki, Greece

"As a matter of fact, when I saw the draw in September, I was in Greece. I saw right away I would be playing against many friends and would be opponents with Aris, and I thought it was nice. The other day in Barcelona, I had dinner with Michailis Kakiouzis, which is nice to do when you are travelling. We play in Moscow two weeks from now, and I'll be with Papaloukas there. And I am very happy to play Aris. It is a team that deserved to play in the Euroleague for its great history. I think that Aris and the national team made all the Greak fans fall in love with basketball in the late 1980s with that incredible team that went to the Final Four three years in a row. Everyone in Greece watch them on TV. I think Aris is the one team in Greece that has more real basketball fans than soccer fans. Even through the tough periods in the club's history, the fans were always next to the team, believing. Aris belongs in the Euroleague, and it will be nice for me to play in Thessaloniki in a full gym with those crazy fans. Hard, but nice."

Hi Nikos, I'm just wondering, what has been your the most momentous shot?

Martynas Stokevicius - Lithuania

"The shot I will never forget came when I was with AEK, against Efes Pilsen in the Top 16. It was an unbelievable day. The games between Greek and Turkish teams are always special, with great atmosphere. They are good games to play. That was the game that I broke my nose, too. I sat on the bench for five or seven minutes after getting hur. My coach asked if I was ready, and I thought so and went back out. But when I got out there, I was dizzy and not understanding everything. We were down 13 at the end of the third quarter, I think, and after that it was like god's will. I made some crazy shots, including the one at the end that won the game. It was lucky for sure. The Greek gods that night were with AEK!"

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