Bartzokas: «The game with Villeurbanne is of great importance»
In the media day in view of the home game with Villeurbanne for the 9th round of the Euroleague, our team's coach, Giorgos Bartzokas, talked about the great importance of the game against ASVEL.
At first, when asked about the rotation, the depth of the roster, and how the team played that well in November, he pointed out the following: "The team has been playing very well during the past 10 days, because we hadn't played that well before. At least not on both ends of the floor. I think that anything significant to happen with sports, demands of a process that is often difficult to accept, entails moments of crisis and criticism for all. But that's how things are, it takes work on both the mental and psychological levels and in everything in between. I think we have to stabilize the way we play for as long as we can in the game. In as many games as possible, but also during any one game, we should not have many ups and downs. That's what's required. Having more players makes this more doable, for example, some players that played an important role in the Friday game against Panathianikos, played little or not at all last night, and at the same time, our team played a good game and beat an opponent we have respect for. It's not easy to do, but if it does, it pushes the team's limits upwards. That's what we've been trying to do because we have more players available who we believe are all capable of wearing the team's jersey and go after our goals which are inevitably high ones.
Talking about the upcoming game vs the French team, he said: "It's a very hard game and I'm not saying that to be politically correct. I do believe that Villeurbanne has shown us the aspects of their game. They have athleticism, experience, good players. That's why they have had good results and have made games hard for their opponents. So, any thoughts about an easy victory just because we won the 3 previous games, are totally misleading. And I'm saying that to address the atmosphere around. We have watched video with the players, explained what it is Villeurbanne is doing on the floor. In the Euroleague the 2 points you get for a win, are exactly the same either you beat Real and Panathinaikos on the road or Villeurbanne at home. The importance of the game is exactly the same and maybe even greater".
«The game with Villeurbanne is important, we must continue with the winning streak»
Nikola Milutinov said about tomorrow's game: "They have a quality and athletic roster. They play aggressively, they have the skill to play that kind of basketball, so we must address their aggressiveness. This is going to be the key for tomorrow's game. The importance of the game is huge for us, we want to continue with our winning streak. We are focused and if we play like we did in the last game, we are going to be ok".