Barztokas and Fall about the game with Fenerbahce
Olympiacos will play against Fenerbahce tomorrow (12/04, 20.15 CET) in a packed SEF (tickets have sold out for weeks now), for the last game of Euroleague's regular season.
"They are a team that has been playing very well lately", the 'red & whites' coach, Giorgos Bartzokas, pointed out. "Their game is particular. They shoot equal numbers of twos and threes, they have 5 or 6 players that have great confidence in their game. Wilbekin, Biberovic, Sanli, Heys... They have good numbers; they are shooting very well. They are a team with a big scoring average since Saras took over. It's going to be a very hard game, against a team that has had a very good second round, just like we have".
Asked if the focus is going to be on the guards of the Turkish team, he replied: "It's not just the perimeter players, except if we also include the big players that can also shoot. Papagiannis and Sanli are very good shooters. They are a team that can cause a lot of problems from the 3-point line and it's going to take a group effort in defense to manage".
About the speculation that Olympiacos is going to 'choose' his opponent, he replied: "I didn't know there's such a discussion going on. So, people are speculating that we are going to choose if we lose or win? Olympiacos has never done that and I have never done that. We respect the effort we have put up to now. We have won 21 Euroleague games. We think that it's an honor for our team to be in the playoffs for the third time in a row and we are going to try hard to make the Final 4. According to my assessment, that's huge considering the circumstances of this season. We are going to respect both our effort and the opponent; we are going to play the best we can so that we also show our respect to the fans that have registered the game sold out for weeks now and are going to come and see us. It will be a very intense game and a very competitive one, worthy of two playoff teams".
About Nikola Milutinov and Filip Petrusev, he said: "Medically, they are both fine, however, they are coming from months of inaction. Right now, it's one thing to be healthy and another to be in Euroleague shape. We are going to see how things go with today's practice and we are going to decide if we leave out one of them or both. At this moment, Filip is a little behind in shape compared to the rest".
On his part, Moustapha Fall stressed the following: "It's going to be a difficult game. They are a good team, with a good coach. We are definitely going to fight to win. It's also certain that it's going to be a battle".\
Given that Feber's tall players are shooting with good percentages from the perimeter, he was asked if this is extra motivation for him to guard them outside the paint. "That's a question for the coach. I will simply follow the plan. If he asks me to follow them outside the perimeter, I'll do that, if he asks me to stay in the post, I'll also do that. It's his decision. I'll do the best I can".
Finally, on whether he prefers Barcelona or Monaco, since everything points to one of them being the 'red & whites' opponent in the quarter finals, he replied: "I have no preference. They are both very good teams, with the same record. They have different playing styles, but it's not important who we get to play. It's going to be a very difficult match up, even more so since we don't have home court advantage".
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