Bartzokas: «We must be 'hungry' in any game»
Upon Olympiacos' departure for Belgrade, for the home game against Maccabi Tel Aviv for the 10th round of the Euroleague, our team's coach, Giorgos Bartzokas, talked about the game style of Oded Kattash's team as well as the 'hunger' his players must have in every game of the competition.
«There are no easy Euroleague games. It's a constant process for the coaches to try and convince their players that there is no such thing as an easy night. Of course, some times complacency is something that cannot be avoided, because there are so many games, that mind and body sometimes cannot follow... However, the game with Maccabi is a very difficult one, that's how we have assessed it. They are a team with a very particular way of attacking. They go too much for the short roll and they facilitate and execute from there. Panathinaikos had a lot of pressure last night, just like many teams that underestimate the situation with Maccabi. I believe we are going to have a hard game ahead of us and we must play much better than last night to win».
Asked if there was complacency in the game against Villeurbanne: "We are coming from a very intense ten-day period, we played 'do or die' games. At some point it's only human to have that kind of reaction, without this being acceptable, because we have many players and they need to understand that each game is two points, each game has its own importance. We are at a point where we need all our players playing well, because that's what expected at this level. We don't sleep blissfully before any Euroleague game, even if we are coming off a streak. We must be hungry in all games, play at maximum intensity, play together,, which is very important and think only about our team and not ourselves".
Commenting on the saying 'big teams win even on bad nights' he pointed out: "I stand by this 'cliché' , because we are not that happy with how we played last night, but we at least did not lose the game, so whoever said 'it's better to win than lose', well I applaud this".
Talking about Blatt's return to the team: "The execution coach Kattash is implementing in Maccabi demands that the point-guards have the ball many times in their hands, they play back-to-back hand offs, till they find a good spot to execute or pass and therefore, he's a very important player for them, based on the number of assists he had before getting injured. But we are talking about a team and we should not focus on any one player, but rather on the way they execute, which is very particular and very good".
«We must change our defensive approach»
On his part, Alec Peters, talking about his team's outlook last night (12/11) vs Villeurbanne, said: "Our performance wasn't what we had wanted, but the good thing with this league is that things like that can happen, that is not playing well but still getting to win. Now, we are focusing on the next game. I don't think that any one of us feels today as if we won last night and proud for how we played. We have a lot of things to improve. We showed -before the game vs ASVEL - that we are building something special and now we have to return to it".
In regard to the keys to win the game against Maccabi: "Our defensive approach must be a lot better. Maccabi is making its game in the perimeter. They play with a lot of guards that can attack at any moment. They have forwards that are super-kinetic and the same with their big players... So, if our approach remains the same like last night, then tomorrow is not going to be good for us, we will continue having problems. I hope this change comes and we are ready to face them".
At the end, he said that: "Each one of us gives their best, with the playing time they are given. We understand the expectations and the goals we set for ourselves and the team has set for us and we are proud of that".
*Larentzakis, Mitrou-Long and Evans did not travel to Belgrade.