Ward: «We must do the things that represent our game philosophy»
Olympiacos will face Panathinaikos in round 30 of the EuroLeague, and Georgios Bartzokas and Tyson Ward spoke during Media Day, one day before the game at the Peace and Friendship Stadium (SEF) (06/03, 20:15 CET).
In his opening statement about the game, the Olympiacos head coach referred to the team’s absences: “Some absences are certain. Vezenkov and Walkup will not play, and Monte Morris is highly doubtful as he has tightness in his lower back. The rest of the players are available and capable enough to win the game.”
Regarding how Olympiacos can respond after the losses to Panathinaikos in the Cup and to Zalgiris, the coach said: “I don’t agree with that way of thinking or that approach. In the Cup we didn’t play well at all, while the game with Zalgiris was a completely different matchup with different circumstances. It’s not easy to play in Kaunas, even though we had been winning there in recent years. We lost in the second overtime and had two possessions we didn’t convert. We have to move forward. Unfortunately, we couldn’t prepare together with all our roster. Some players were with their national teams and there were also injuries, which didn’t allow us to prepare as well as we wanted. Because these are very particular games, we don’t change our mindset or approach. We want to win at home against a special and difficult opponent. We have the motivation to do it.”
When asked whether Olympiacos’ winning streak could play a role, Bartzokas replied: “Not at all. My assessment is that the biggest problem in team sports is complacency. A team coming off wins may be less motivated than one coming from the opposite situation. We saw it in the Cup final and it worked in our favor last year in the first final. I’ve been trying to fight this for many years, but it’s human nature to relax. You play differently under pressure than when you are relaxed and successful.”
Regarding the fact that Olympiacos is second with two more wins than Panathinaikos while having played one game less, the Greek coach added: “To be honest, I don’t know how Panathinaikos thinks. From what I’ve read, they believe they will win the EuroLeague and consider it certain. So, what kind of pressure do they have about ranking in 10th place? That’s not the case. We have a specific approach to everything: we focus only on the next game, which is tomorrow and it’s very difficult and demanding. Panathinaikos is a very capable team with a lot of talent. They also played well against us. But we are playing at home and the environment won’t be easy for them, just as it isn’t easy for us when we play there. We must not think about the run of European games or the Cup final. We need to play the kind of basketball that will help us win tomorrow. We analyzed for the players what we didn’t do well in the Cup final and what Panathinaikos did much better than us in order to beat us. That’s all.”
Tyson Ward also commented on the upcoming game: “It’s always a big game. We’ll control what we can and do the things that represent us. It will be a tough match and we need to be physical. That’s who we are and that’s how we’ll beat them.”
Regarding the losses to Zalgiris and Panathinaikos, the American forward said: “Of course you don’t forget that you lost. We’re not proud of our performance in the previous game, so we need to move past it but also learn from our mistakes, focus on this game and do whatever it takes to get the win.”
On the characteristics that define Olympiacos, Ward added: “We are a tough team. We move the ball well and play hard. We try to beat opponents with our strength but also with our offensive abilities. Tomorrow we have to show that even more, because they also play tough and these games are very important for us.”