Bartzokas and Papanikolaou talk about Efes
On Clean Monday, Olympiacos' delegation flew to Istanbul, where tomorrow (19/03, 18:30 CET) will be playing against Anadolu Efes, for the 30th Euroleague round.
"There are no holidays for us. We have a very tough schedule with back-to-back games", the Olympiacos' coach, Giorgos Bartzokas, stressed. "For me, the game is something like a final for Efes, in terms of their effort to make the playoffs. There's no doubt they have a high-quality roster, with lots of talent. They have scored an average of 107 points in their last two home games. It's obvious that except for the fundamentals, we are going to have to do a lot of things well in order to win".
Asked whether the burden is going to be borne by defense, or it will be equally divided on both ends of the floor, he replied: "It has to do with how you get to execute in offense. If you open up the tempo a lot, you're going to have to execute after only a few seconds. Efes executes in the first twelve seconds, and we must be able to react to that".
On whether the 'wounds' that were troubling him 'healed' following the win over Panathinaikos, he commented: "Not entirely, because Walkup strained his foot playing in that game. He only got through half the practice session today. Due to the games being continuous, in some sense we need to preserve strength".
Captain Kostas Papanikolaou added the following: "Happy Lent to everyone. That's how the schedule is. We have many teams from many different countries and they have to play during their holiday time at some point, so now this is our turn. That's how the procedure goes and we have to remain focused on our goal because everything counts now. We have a difficult game in Istanbul in Anadolu's home court, where we haven't won in years now. Let's hope this year is the one the spell breaks because it's a win we need a lot in view of what comes next".
Asked about the shape of the team after the win in the 'eternal's derby, he answered that: "The game against Panathinaikos is over. It's a new week now. We play against a team with great offensive talent. They have players that have tremendous scoring skills. And despite not making their best season, it doesn't mean they don't have the talent to hurt or kill a team. We must be very focused on our defense, very aggressive with all aspects of the game and win all 50-50 plays. As I said before, they are a team fighting to make the top ten so as to guarantee the playins. So, it's a crucial game for them, just like it is for us".
* Naz Mitrou Long did not travel with the delegation (ill), together with Nikola Milutinov (injury), Giorgos Tanoulis and Benjamin Abosi.