Bartzokas: «Valencia relies on pace and intensity»
Giorgos Bartzokas and Tyler Dorsey spoke during the Media Day ahead of our team’s game against Valencia for the 16th round of the EuroLeague.
In his opening remarks regarding tomorrow’s game (16/12, 20:15 CET) against the Spanish side, the Olympiacos head coach said: “We are talking about a very difficult game given our circumstances. Even though we didn’t play the game against Fenerbahce, we have played two consecutive away games and lost them. We must win. The opponent is a particularly good team. You can see it in the way they play and in the numbers. I have great respect for their coach; he is very good. They play in a specific way and have added some key players. It is a team that keeps improving as the season goes on.
They play with pace and intensity, and everyone knows that. Everyone gets to shoot, their power forwards, their centers; they open up the floor very well and have good spacing. We need a good defensive performance, good decisions on offense and good control of the tempo to win the game.”
Regarding the fact that Valencia will be more rested, as they did not play in the Spanish league due to heavy rainfall, the coach was clear: “I’ve stopped drawing such conclusions. Teams that are short-handed go out and play as if there is no tomorrow and win without pressure. Teams that are tired play well, teams that are prepared don’t play well. The EuroLeague doesn’t provide constants in this respect. It has to do with how a team comes out to play; how determined it is, and ultimately how much cohesion the players have with each other. That is the most important thing.”
About Olympiacos’ absences, the coach said: “McKissic and Ward are out. Morris will not play. On Wednesday he will undergo performance tests and then we’ll see what his condition is. He is already training, and after Wednesday we will see what shape he is in.”
Asked about the elements he expects to see from Monte Morris, Giorgos Bartzokas added: “I think by now the information is widespread. Excellent analyses have been done and very nice things have been written, even about his personal life; where he comes from, how he has played, which teams he has played for and in what role. The information we have from everyone is that he is a player who cares a lot about the team. He is a pass-first playmaker, and in our system that is very important, especially with the many scorers we have at other positions.
Right now, Olympiacos needs to have defensive balance. We’ve had some bad defensive games, especially in Barcelona. We also need balance in how the ball is distributed, because we are talking about very good scorers who are used to playing with the ball a lot. That is our goal, and if we improve it, we will automatically become much stronger.”
From his side, Dorsey said about the game: “They play very well; they are one of the most in-form teams in the EuroLeague right now. For us, this is a game we have to win. We’re playing at home after two losses, and it’s a must-win game. We must find a way to get it done. We have to take it personally, handle the matchups on a personal level defensively, and play with flow on offense. There’s nothing excessive about it; basketball is a simple game, you don’t need to overanalyse everything.
The goal is to get back to winning. We have two opportunities to do that this week. We know how important this week is for our momentum, so we just need to find a way to get the win.”