Bartzokas and Fall about Fenerbahce
During the media day in view of the upcoming home game vs Fenerbahce (24/01, 20:15 CET) for the 23rd round of the Euroleague, Olympiacos' coach, Giorgos Bartzokas, analyzed the game style of the Turkish team and what it is his group needs to do on the floor.
Initially, asked if we are talking about a game that will decide the first seed, and what kind of game he's expecting, he said: "We don't approach the game as a first seed one. That's beyond our logic and philosophy. We are focusing on the following game and we've been doing that for years now. We don't concern ourselves with first seed. We definitely want to make the playoffs, to have home court advantage, if possible, but we think it's very premature to say that this is a decider game. Each game counts. We are coming from a winning streak in the Euroleague and in general, we have played very well during the last couple of months, but here we have a very particular game. A team that defends very well on the ball, that have a very set way of defending and attacking, due to their coach's philosophy. For us, the tempo will be very important. We must play with speed, move the ball... It's important to have many assists against them because if you take an on-ball approach, then you're going to have a problem. I think we are going to play better than we did no Monday against Panathinaikos, we analyzed our mistakes and I think we are going to be ready".
In terms of how many things have changed compared to the two previous games against Fenerbahce (the pre-season in Crete and the 1st round of the Euroleague), he pointed out that: "Many things have changed... We watched some plays in regard to Fener's tactical game against us in the first game we played, the difference is huge, even in terms of who was playing then and who wasn't. For instance, Petrusev was playing Wright was playing, right now we have neither. There are big differences with Fenerbahce as well. Of course, both teams have also evolved their game, proof enough that they both rank high. It's a difficult game indeed and it's going to take lots of patience from all of us, try to get to the end possession after possession".
On his part, Moustapha Fall said: "I expect a tough game. Just like any other Euroleague one. I think they are going to play very hard. We want to remain first seed, so we are going to play as hard and we'll see what happens".
Asked if right now Olympiacos has an advantage in terms of the centers on the two rosters, he said: "We'll get to see that in the game, I don't decide strategy and how we get to play. Of course we are going to try and expose their weaknesses, but the coaching staff decides strategy".