Bartzokas: «We'll sacrifice our egos for the win »
Olympiacos will be fighting off Virtus tomorrow (07/03, 21:00 CET) to get the win that will keep them high in the rankings, having their 6th player by their side, in yet one more SOLD OUT game!
The coach of the 'red & whites', Giorgos Bartzokas, began his statements with his team's medical report... "What's certain is that Walkup is not playing. His foot is quite swollen. He has a second-degree sprain and there is no specific timeline in cases like this, no matter if we are talking about a player who is more resilient to pain than anyone else. So, Walkup is out. Goss is in. He has practically only practiced by himself and today he's joining the team practice. Mitrou-Long is extremely doubtful. Larentzakis is out. All in all, everyone is getting better, but the level of readiness and of course, the dynamics of the game, demands for players that are absolutely ready".
Asked about the possibility of Shengelia and Dobric not playing, he said: "We have to prepare as if they are both playing. I think that Shengelia's sprain was not a heavy one and he's going to play. But it's better that we don't speculate. We have to prepare and we have prepared to play against a team that ranks third, has won many times during the last possessions of the game, has character and they are the pleasant surprise, of the Euroleague, if such a term can be used to describe them. Coach Banchi and his players have done a very good job and they are certainly going to be in the playoffs. We want to win in our home court. We believe in our team, we believe in our dynamics, but we acknowledge it's a game against a very experienced team, with players that know the game very well and we have to show all our good qualities, like we have been doing lately, and even more than that. A little more sacrificing of our egos, because we miss a lot of important players".
On his part, Michalis Lountzis stressed: "It's a quite critical game. We see that many teams compete for one place in the playoffs and also for home-court advantage. So, we don't have the luxury not to approach each game as if it was a final. All the more, it's a game in our home. Virtus is ahead of us, so we have to win the game. Our opponent is a tough one and shows they really want to win. They don't let anything drop and they try to press for 40 minutes. Truth is, we feel good. I can say that we are all quite experienced. I think we all know how the coach wants the game to be played. We have all embraced his philosophy for both offense and defense, so I think that all of that is coming together on the floor, despite we miss players or not".