Bartzokas: «I'm grateful for the players, the staff and our fans»
In the press conference following the big road win over Paris, Olympiacos' coach, Giorgos Bartzokas, said to be grateful for his players, the staff and the fans and commented on Evan Fournier and Sasha Vezenkov.
He started with the following: "This was a very important win for us. I'm sincerely grateful for our players, the staff and our fans for tonight's big game in an amazing arena against a team that is the pleasant surprise of this season's Euroleague. We had to be compact with our offense and defense and we managed that for three quarters. We gave Paris the opportunity to run the open floor in the 3rd quarter and score some layups that were a real problem for us, but we went back to keys to game that we had emphasided before-hand, meaning rebounds and facilitation. We won and we are really happy for that. Each win is important, we still rank first seeds, but there's still a big road ahead, we have to remain humble and and focus on every practice and every game".
Asked about Evan Fournier, he stressed that "there are a lot of things you can say about him, he's a fantastic player, but what I can say is that above all else is that he's an exceptional teammate, person, a huge presence and he's the glue to the team. He's a 12-year NBA veteran who returned to Europe and he's the first one to come to practice and the last one to leave, it's trully important".
On whether Paris is one of the toughest teams to play against: "yes, I believe that. We lost the first game we played, we were surprised by how the attack. They play very consistently at home and on the road. They are one of challengers for a playoffs spot and why not, even for home court advantage".
About what Olympiacos needs to make the Final 4: "Basically, to take one step at a time. Each practice, each game. It's important for us right now that we won without Wlakup and Vildoza. It's also important that we remain healthy to the end".
Asked about Sasha Vezenkov and his impact on the team, he said: "He's the January MVP, just like of this round as well. He's a guy who can easily score 17 poitns in the first half and then he can be patient and do what the team needs to win the game. It's a privilege for me to have players like Sasha".