Olympiacos qualifies for the Greek Cup Semi Finals
It was one of the few times Olympiacos was a guest at his own house. However, this did not stop him from beginning the season in exactly the same fashion in which he ended the last one.
The Greek and European Champions reached a very comfortable victory 43-94 against Kifissia that qualifies him for the Greek Cup semifinals.
Giorgos Bartzokas has asked from his players to respect the opponent and remain focused throughout the game and they did exactly that constantly widening the difference, reaching the final 51 point margin.
Τhe quarters: 13-18, 27-43, 38-69, 43-94.
Κifissia (Papatheodorou): Chatzinikolas, Moshovitis 8, Kakarias, Diamantopoulos 2, Polidorou, Karaboulas 7, Menoudakos 1, Sioutis 8 (2), Psathas 9, Mourikis 2, Petrodimopoulos 4, Tzialas 2.
Οlympiacos (Bartzokas): Hines 4, Papanikolaou 10 (1), Antic 11, Spanoulis 5 (1), Perperoglou 7 (1), Dorsey (8), Sloukas 2, Mavroeidis 6, Mantzaris 12 (2), Katsivelis 5 (1), Gecevicius 7 (1), Printezis 17 (1)
GIORGOS BARZTOKAS: “We thank the coach for his kind comments. I remember Kifissia in the local categories and they now are in the second division and will try to make the first one with the same President and Menoudakos as a player. They are living a dream and they are now very close to becoming a member of the first Greek division. We wanted to show respect for the opponent and not just lose an afternoon. All those who played did a right job. Kifissia needs to be congratulated for what they have achieved so far. I wish them the best.
We are now looking at the next game against Caja Laboral. A difficult game, against an excellent team with an experienced coach and a premiere. As always, a premiere is difficult. Law has begun personal training with the ball; we are going to be able to make a better assessment before the game against Caja. No, we are not going to play a friendly game during the weekend. Fortunately, we had made a good program, with strong games, so if we remain healthy, we are going to be ready for a good game. Our players are at the level they are right now not because they are the best in Europe, but they rather have the right mentality. The most important thing is to underestimate no one. And this is what will make us once again the Champions”.
GIORGOS PRINTEZIS: “It’s very bad that the League will not start. We cannot be preparing during the summer and later try to find solutions for the league. Teams should have more means of income. But it’s not fair for the teams to fall behind on scheduling. We have started the season with a new team and we have the foundations of last season. We faced a less experienced but good team. AENK may be playing for the A2 league, but they actually belong with first category, since they had already eliminated two A1 teams”.
VANGELIS MANTZARIS: “Kifissia is a healthy team; I wish there were more teams like them who seem to be quite organized and serious. The guys that played showed to have energy and will to play.
It’s unacceptable to not begin with the league, I’m a player and players want to play. I will not elaborate more, since I don’t have the authority to do so. We are now waiting for Caja, I would like to invite the people to fill the gym and continue from where we stopped last season. I wish the championship had begun. Caja Laboral will be coming here having played official games; I wish we have had the same opportunity. We are now going to work at practice so we can be 100% ready”.
ELIAS PAPATHEODOROU: “Tonight has been a dream day for our team. We played against Olympiacos, Olympiacos being the Greek and European Champion. Congratulations to our players for showing what they have showed in all these pre-season games, since this is how we have dealt with these Cup Games. I would like to thank Olympiacos for respecting themselves and playing at 100%, with energy and focus and thus respected us as well. We tried to be competitive, especially in the first half, when we still had strength. We did not manage to have good choices in attack, due to Olympiacos’ good defense. We lost our concentration, the difference got wider then and it was all over. Again congratulations to my players”.