Walkap: Stealing Slouka was the best phase of my career

He stressed that the theft he had made in a Zalgiris – Olympiacos match in 2021 is probably the best phase of his career. Olympiacos’ guard, Thomas Walkap, gave an interview on all subjects to “basketnews.com”, commenting on various phases of his career. The international with Greece basketball player of the Pirates remembered the theft of Slouka, his stabbing in Mike James’ face, Slouka’s buzzer beater against Fenerbahce in the 2023 playoffs, but also the battle with Luka Dodsic. Wokap stated : For stealing Slouka in a Zalgiris – Olympiacos match in the 2020/21 season that is left in the world’s mind: “We had a foul to give and I said to go for stealing and if the referee gave it. Luckily he didn’t give it, because a phase… super 50-50. I knew Sloukas would go opposite the screen to go left and I waited. I had no idea Spanoulis was behind me and looking back now I think Jean- Charles could do me a tap. I just wanted to throw the ball. No matter how dynamic the situation may seem, he just wanted me to throw the ball in the basket and see. Maybe it was the best phase of my career. And Spanoulis could steal the ball. I’m glad it didn’t happen. It was a great phase.” For which player he would want in his team to tie up the defense if he were coach: “ Mustafa Fal. He’s very good at drop defense, good at change. He’s protecting the basket and he’s smart. We always tell basketball that tall people are stupid, but he’s very smart. He understands the game and has good defensive instincts. When this is combined with its height, it is very important to me for our defense.” About what he was thinking in a friendly Slovenia – Greece when he went to steal a Dodsic pass and what is his view of him: “He does things… I think I have good defensive instincts. But we see what happened. I saw the tall man running down the field and I was thinking (p.r. about Dodists) ‘he’s not going to try this pass’. I didn’t think he would, but now I look like a fool for trying to steal the ball. Dodsic sees the phases in slow motion. He understands pass angles, where each player is at any time at a depth of two seconds. It seems like eternity.” How he felt when he faced Dodsic and what he did: “I wanted to make him uncomfortable. There are differences between NBA and Europe, especially how dynamic defence is. The NBA is good because it has spaces. Here I wanted to make him uncomfortable, although he’s one of the best players in the world to create space. I don’t think we booked him well in the friendly in Slovenia, but in the game in OAKA the whole team did a good job on him in situations 1 against 5, where we made him pass. He’ll put on a lot of easy baskets and make passes that look easy. The point is to make these passes difficult.” For a pin of Papanikolaou in the match with Alba Berlin, where he passed the ball: “I am a teammate, a friend, and also a fan of Papanikolaou. I’ve watched a lot of Papanikolaou highlights, I’m a basketball junkie. I’ve seen how high he jumps, so it was an easy decision at that point. I certainly wouldn’t stand up for a strike foul. He felt good that day and in the three years I’ve been here I’ve seen some of these passes. In general that was a good game for us. At that point I was celebrating with him, screaming. That face she made is known, everyone loves her.” For a stick he made in the 2022 playoffs against Monaco against Mike James: ‘Dorsey has played good defense throughout the series by pushing the ball. We needed something at the time. I’ve played together and against Westerman, so I knew he was using his size and he’s reversing at this stage, so he can’t see behind him. I saw the opportunity and went there, so it certainly doesn’t hurt that James tried to cut me, who is the first scorer in EuroLeague history.” For Dorsey’s smile on the stick in front of James: ‘ I had not seen Dorsey’s smile. He’s relaxed in general, but in the games I love how competitive he is. It doesn’t matter whether he plays a league match, a game in EuroLeague or Final Four. He has the same passion.” For a stick of Wright on Lesor’s face in the last derby with Panathinaikos AKTOR : “I remember yelling at the counter. I thought he’d floater. We didn’t realize it was so close to the basket. I’ve never seen anyone do that to Lesor. I don’t know if I’ve seen another player make such a transition to EuroLeague as Wright.” For Slouka’s buzzer-beater against Fenerbahce last season: “Just before this phase I had made a huge mistake. A huge mistake. We take the ball after a defensive rebound with 15 seconds to the end. I went to pass on Slooka and he was wrong. Gunturic scored with a shot, so this shot for me is more than we won. He saved me. He saved me and I told him when we went to the tunnel. I told him he saved me and that’s what Larentzais told me. The system was for Sloukas to take the ball and play Pick and Roll with Vezenkov. I don’t think there were any steps. If someone steps on pause, if they are winning baskets or first period you see many such phases.” For qualifying for the 2022 Final Four against Monaco: “I don’t know if I have ever been so happy. It was a rough season. We closed the regular season in 2nd place and found against us the hottest team of the event, with the first scorer in history. It was a series of pressure, spiritual and physical. But that we ended up like this, in such an environment, with the world on the platforms, was incredible. I still get creepy every time I see it, because I remember how I felt. You see what it meant to us and the world.”