Papapetrou: «Ready when it counts»

Ioannis Papapetrou weighed in on everything that happened during the Crete tournament and talked about the new season that begins for the Greek Champions.

What the Greek forward had to say:

Ioannis, the game against Efes, that was also the tournament final, seemed to be lost at first half, isn't it so?

"The truth is we did not start the game ready, we made a lot of mistakes at the beginning, we received a lot of easy points, were trailing and then it was very difficult to come back. No matter what we did we could not make it happen. They were going on the ball first, they were stronger and more ready to play the game".

The total estimate for Olympiacos from the tournament?

"We beat Red Star, lost to Efes and I think we can draw many useful conclusions from this defeat than from any possible victory. Sometimes you need this. We'll analyze this, we'll see what's wrong and we'll be ready next".

The Cretan fans once again supported Olympiacos, your comment on that?

"Just like last season, when we played in Heraklion against Cedevita, this year as well, the fans were all for us. We saw many fans coming to the gym, we wish to thank them, we tried to please them on our turn".

What did you think of the tournament in regard to organization?

"Everything was wonderful, good organization, a lot of people at the gym and I think that we did all we could to please them. Ok, the final did not go our way, but we'll try to improve until official games begin".

A message for the Olympiacos fans? Are we going to see a stronger team compared to last season's?

"We are getting there. We want to play faster, harder. This cannot be done from one day to the other. We work on a daily basis and we'll be ready when it counts".

How Efes played is a testament to how difficult this season's Euroleague is going to be with the new format?

"The format is going to be different, more games, and more difficult games. I think we have been working to adjust to all of this. We are working on speed, athleticism, so as to be ready as soon as the games begin".