Bartzokas: «This was our worst performance in the season»
During the post-game following the loss to Crvena Zvezda, Giorgos Bartzokas commented on our team's performance and the reasons for the loss.
"First of all, congratulations to Crvena Zvezda for the big win. They played very well, they did all they needed to do to win the game. On our part, this was our worst performance in the season. We have to look in the mirror and understand what it is we need to do to win games at this level and not play for our numbers and stats. We had 17 turnovers, 20% with three-pointers, we were really soft defense wise and from that point of view, there are no excuses like Fall was out, like Moses or some other players were ill last week. If you have a compact team, then you get on the floor and play as a team. Winnin or losing is a totally different thing. Tonight we played a very bad game. We tried to win as individuals. We did not follow our plan on either end of the floor. We lost every battle that entailed contact. We deserved to lose', was his initial statement.
Asked about the shape of the team right now he replied: A week ago we beat Monaco on the road and that was a very important win. I can't say we are in crisis mode because we lost to Paris in a double-game week and here tonight. I think that each game in the competition is very hard. You have to remain extremely focused, both physically and mentally and play as a team to win, or you can lose any one game. Names, contracts, or jerseys are not enough to win you a game. We all have to play together. Of course, we deal with quite a few problems that impact our way of playing. We have been playing back-to-back games with Nikola Milutinov being our only solution for the center position. Everyone has been trying to do things they are not used to doing. At the same time, the quality of our practicing has been going down. Nikola has been practicing with no other center right now in our roster. But, I repeat, these are not excuses. We must play hard, together, and execute our plan and then we can either lose or win. But we are still early in the season, I'm hopeful for the team and still, we need to change our mentality in nights like this one".
Asked whether it was Olympiacos that lost or Zvezda that won: "You don't play well because the other team plays exceptionally well. They did not leave any one ball uncontested, on the other hand, we did the exact opposite. You can ask coach Sfairopoulos about Zvezda's quality, they have excellent players, they are missing some players from their front line, they signed new ones. Last night, Alba was one shot away from beating Partizan, there is no easy game with this schedule. Players are not robots. But if you have ambitions, like Olympiacos does, his administration and fans, you have to play much better to make it to the finish line".
About the atmosphere in Zvezda's arena: "It's a common theme, the same happens at the SEF (i.e. for Olympiacos' fans to sing for Zvezda), but the battle is on the court. The good news is they are not throwing ... batteries. They are not doing other stuff... We did not lose to the atmosphere, but becasue we played really bad".
About Petrusev going to Crvena Zvezda on loan: "We signed Filip last season, and of course it wasn't me who wanted to let him go, he wanted out. You can't keep anyone like that, he helped us in the beginning of the season to win the Super Cup, I believe in his talent, but we are human, we want to live and work in environments that we enjoy. If we had him today, it would be a different situation, we miss his rebounds, his talent, but I can't say anything else now. We have Fall and Wright, but they are both out for different reasons".
About the two losses in Belgrade: "Last season, we lost to all the Spanish teams but Valencia and we finally beat Barcelona to go to Belgrade. This year, we have been beating them. Some times, it's a matter of the day you are having or momentum. Of course, both Partizan and Crvena Zvezda have excellent teams, we have to play as a team to win here"