Sfairopoulos: «A different game»
Olympiacos plays against Panathinaikos Superfoods in OAKA on Friday (18/11, 20:15 CET), for the eighth day of the Euroleague RS and Giannis Sfairopoulos and Matt Lojeski talk about the game against the 'greens'
The Greek coach and the Olympiacos forward talked about the game in OAKA and the Olympiacos coach said that "there is no similarity whatsoever with the game played for the Greek League. Only the team names are the same. It's a totally different game, a Euroleague game, against a very good team, a team that is playing at home, in a packed gym, Panathinaikos is the favorite because they play at home and they have been playing very well lately, we saw that they win easily at home and barely lose on the road, they lose games that could have gone either way. So, they are in a very good shape, we need to remain focused, implement our plan and play our game".
In regard to the change in the Panathinaikos bench, the Greek coach said that "it's certain that the players want to prove new things with the new coach. They are at a place where they need to play well and that's why they play well. They are certainly stronger at home and we need to play very focused and stick to our plan".
Asked on whether there is fatigue from continuous games, the 49 year old coach replied that "this is not a discussion to be made, when you play such a derby, there is nothing like fatigue, everyone gives their max. There is no fatigue for any of the teams".
About the absence of James Gist, he commented "Panathinaikos deals with this loss, but they are a team with a lot of players, a quality roster and they have the players to cover for that loss".
In regard to the 'keys' of the game, the Greek coach said that "focus and endurance will play a role, we'll see about all the rest of the technical details while in the game. When you are a part of the "war' you don't comment on battles fought or upcoming. You continue to fight. If we start talking about what happened yesterday or what is going to happen tomorrow, we are in trouble. It takes stamina, endurance and mental agility. Whoever has not understood that, is in trouble".
As to what Olympiacos needs to change in regard to the game against Barcelona, Giannis Sfairopoulos was clear: "We definitely need to play a better game in offense. Our defense was very good, but our offense could have been better. We had a lot of open shots that did not go in, this is not an everyday issue. We need to be ready and focused and play well on both ends of the floor".
On his part, Matt Lojeski said that "We are excited for this game. It's always tough to play in OAKA, we'll do what we can to win. They are going to be more ready to play compared to our first game, they have made such changes and they will definitely seek revenge before their fans. This is how the new Euroleague works, we use a rotation of 10-12 players a game and we hope to remain refreshed and endure".
Asked about the absence of Gist as well as the 'key' to the victory, the American forward replies that "Each time we face off, one of the two teams deals with absences, we need to play as a team, not allow the fan factor influence the game, stay calm and play our game. It's definitely good not to have a trip ahead, we'll see if we or they are going to be readier to play this game".