Simone Pianigiani: 'With Fenerbahce, we re-start together'

Simone Pianigiani became officially the new head coach of Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul for the next two seasons with an option for a third year. The coach of the Italian National team talked to La Gazzetta dello Sport about his first days in Istanbul.

"With Fenerbahce, we re-start together. Their management is brand new with Kemal Dincer who became the new General Manager. I had a good feeling with him as soon as we started talking about our new project. We share the same ideas. Their request is to build a new system, where all the players are involved. Fenerbahce has NBA-Level Facilities and our goal is to have players loyal to the club. Our target is to stay among the top teams in Europe. When I decided to leave Siena, I wanted to be focused just on the National Team, but then Fenerbahce came with this important offer and I could not say NO. As assistant coach I would love to have with me someone who knows already my philosophy. Yesterday I had dinner in an awesome place on Bosphorus. I said to myself: 'Enjoy these moments'. I am tired because my last week was full of emotions, all positive. It is great to start a new, important adventure with big expectations".