Greek coach Dimitris Itoudis, who led his team CSKA Moscow to its 7th Euroleague basketball title, Sunday night (101-96 in OT) against Turkish Fenerbahce, revealed that he always had a small icon of St. Paisios by his side throughout the campaign. ‘There is a friend, I don’t want to name him, he knows, that when I became head coach at CSKA had faith in me and gave two icons: One was of Paisios. I am not a religious nut job, or anything…But he told me a few things. I thank him from the bottom of my heart’, said the elated coach after his team’s triumph over his mentor and daughter’s godfather, Zeljko Obradovic. At the end of the match Itoudis revealed to the reporters that he had whispered in the ear of Obradovic that this title was also his. Watch what Itoudis told the Greek and foreign reporters after the match.

Speaking about the icon