Bartzokas - Larentzakis about Bayern
Olympiacos left for Munich, to play against Bayern tomorrow (01/02, 20:30 CET), for the 25th round of the Euroleague.
"I expect nothing else from another difficult game", the 'red & whites' coach, Giorgos Bartzokas, pointed out. "Bayern is coming from two back-to-back wins. I think they have the deepest roster they have ever had. They have depth in all positions, many options and of course a coach I consider a friend who everybody knows is a really good at his job. They are also fighting to make the ten teams that will contest to continue their Euroleague season. And of course, their psychology is good following the wins. Especially the one against Baskonia was very important. It doesn't change something to our approach though. You always have to control the tempo, do the basics right, make the fewer mistakes possible, play with confidence, have physicality, just like the game requires".
On whether Olympiacos' character, that has remained unchanged despite the problems, plays an even bigger role in road games, he replied: "It's absolutely necessary. After so many years, my opinion is that even in smaller competitions, like the Eurocup or the Basketball Champions League, you can find really talented players. What you see in the Euroleague with abundance, are players that are mentally prepared. That means they are mentally tough, they quickly forget about their good performance, they forget about their bad one and know what they need to do to win a game. You may find talent in smaller competitions and very often, you can even find more individual talent. But here, it's a League that demands great preparedness, the games are continuous. As you know, this is the third double-game week in January. Plus the national league games, we practically play every 2 or 3 days. And the fact that we have all three of our centers disabled is something that definitely has an impact. But we must stay alive. Each game matters. The one vs Alba was very important, but the one against Bayern is equally important. You start doing math at this point, you are marching towards the end and you see where others stand compared to where you are".
He said about Filip Petrusev: "He's going to travel with the delegation and we hope he plays. According to what the MRI showed, he played injured even in the game against Real, when he did not play well. And that's not the only thing. Larentzakis and Goss have also come back from injuries. Because the games are continuous, there is no option for the players who come back from injuries to practice enough first and reach a good level so you will know what to expect from them in the game".
«We are at a good level»
Giannoulis Larentzakis pointed out: "The game with Bayern is hard. We do want to go there and win. I think that right now we are at a good level and we are going there to fight for the best".
About the fact that three Olympiacos' center have been knocked out in the last games, he said: "We were a bit unlucky with that. In such a season, with so many games, injuries are unavoidable. But, to not have a center is really hard. I think that Wright, who just came here, will help us and we can't wait for Fall and Nikola to come back the soonest possible".
Finally, on whether he thinks this is a chance for his team to built a winning streak, he replied: "We never looked for the streak. We focus at one game at a time and each one that comes our way, we want to win. We have no plans for a streak, we simply want to win the next game, no matter what..."