Bartzokas: «It's very important to start the season with a win»
In the post-game press conference following Olympiacos’ victory over Baskonia, coach Giorgos Bartzokas commented on the game and highlighted Thomas Walkup’s contribution, especially in terms of organization and defense.
In his opening statement, he said: “It was very important for us to start the season with a win. Road games here in Vitoria are always difficult. I believe we need to be more consistent in our game for the full 40 minutes. Otherwise, Baskonia always finds ways to strike in transition. In the second and third quarters, we made too many mistakes and gave them chances to score in the open court. We also gave up some defensive rebounds. But we were very solid on the offensive boards - we grabbed a lot, nearly 20 - and in the end, we found a way to win the game, which is very important for us.”
He then continued with an analysis of the game flow: “When we made substitutions from the bench, our image was somewhat problematic. We rushed things, didn’t follow the game plan, and played a very open style; which is exactly what Baskonia wants. We need to be more organized offensively, to structure our play better and find the open man. To be honest, Thomas Walkup’s contribution to our team is invaluable. It’s extremely difficult for anyone else to both run the team and defend the opponent’s best offensive player at this level. Of course, we’re also waiting for Frank Ntilikina to help us in this direction.”
Finally, he commented on Baskonia’s playing style: “We watched the preseason games Baskonia played. Naturally, we expected Howard, Curbelo, and Sedekerskis to play. I know from the Baskonia coach’s press conference that he’s very confident about his team. He said, ‘We’ll have a lot of possessions, we’ll play at a very fast pace, and we’ll shoot many threes.’ And that’s exactly how they play. If you don’t adapt to this style, you can get into trouble. I also watched the final between Valencia and Real Madrid. The tempo was absolutely crazy, and no other teams in European basketball are as prepared as the Spanish ones.”