Sfairopoulos: «We don’t focus on what other teams do»
Olympiacos hosts Zalgiris Kaunas on Friday (18/3, 20.45 CET) for the 11th day of the Euroleague TOP16 and Giannis Sfairopoulos stresses that he’s only concerned with the results of his team and not of the others in the group.
“Another critical game for us tomorrow, against a very tough team, a team with players that have been playing together at the highest European level for years. Ant Lithuanians also, I’m talking about Jankunas, Seibutis. They are in general a team that’s tough on the court, they put a lot more effort in their defensive game now than before with their previous coach, we saw that they beat Bamberg on the road, Laboral had a hard time beating them at home and the same happened with Barca, so we need to be careful, do what we need to do and most of all, be patient. The game takes patience, a clear head and we need to implement our tactics on both ends of the court. We need to return to winning games, it’s the first of the last four games and victory is a one way street for us” the Greek coach said at first.
Asked what Olympiacos needs to do to not get carried away by the Lithuanians’ fast paced game, the Greek coach was clear. “It’s always dangerous to be in a hurry, you are not making the right decisions. That’s why I asked for patience and a clear head. Zalgiris is going to fight to win the game, that’s why we need to be patient to the end. And know what we need to do at any particular moment. This takes patience, faith to the plan and to give our best despite from the score difference. Either we are leading for trailing”.
Questioned about the team’s shape, the 49year old coach answered that “I think that the level we are at is quite good for where we are in the season. This was evident in the game against AEK and in Bamberg and before Bamber in our home game. I believe that the way the game evolved in Bamberg, the result does not do us justice, but psychology is also important. I believe that we are all more determined and that we are all going to do something more than what has to be done”.
Giannis Sfairopoulos was asked if he and his players are stressed in regard to the results of other games in the group that don’t come in Olympiacos’ favor. “We only get to focus on our team, not the results other teams get. We definitely don’t solely depend on our results, but we are not focusing on what other teams do. Because if we do, we are going to lose our target. We are going to miss what’s important and the important thing is for our team to win games. We’ll get to see what the rest of the results are at the end. The thing is not to lose what matters by focusing on others”.
Asked on whether fatigue from continuous critical and tough games has played a part, the Greek Champions’ coach answered that “I never look for excuses, there is no fatigue excuse. We give all we’ve got to win. There not a fatigue factor for this team. I’ve told that to the players as well”.
The next question was in regard to the adjustment of Hakim Warrick. “We see that Warrick is adjusting better and better with each passing day. He was much better at the game against AEK than what he had been against Bamberg and against Bamberg he was better than what in the previous day and he’s improving every day. I think that he already is at a very good point, he has been incorporated and is already helping the team more, so I think that the more the time goes by he will be playing even better”.
He was also asked on whether he and his players see tomorrow’s game as a change to get “revenge” for the defeat in Kaunas. “I can’t talk about revenge, you cannot put emotion into the sports equation, and you don’t get to revenge a result. It has definitely cost us to lose there in the first round. We hadn’t played a good game and especially in the last quarter we had collapsed. We are not talking revenge, we’d rather win a game”.