«We want a packed gym»
Olympiakos hosts Darusafaka on Friday (10/03, 20:45 CET) for the 25th day of the Euroleague and Giannis Sfairopoulos talked about the game against the Turkish team.
"We practically enter the final stretch of the regular season, with a very important game against Darousafaka, which is a very dangerous team, a team that has players with offensive talent, a team that has proved to be able win anyone, either at home or on the road. For us, it is important that we follow our plan, approach the game the right way, and try to bring it where we want. It is certain that our defensive commitment is very important, how you neutralize and trump rivals and the situations they create in their attack to find themselves in a position of advantage for their scorers. We must be ready to fight for each ball. We need to play as best we can on both ends of the floor and run, but also be aggressive at set game, 'read' the game, see what the defense allows, and at the same time probe the defensive weaknesses of their own players and where to strike. It's an important game and in this effort we want everyone with us. I believe our progress so far is worth a large reward from the fans, and it ca
n only be them filling up the stadium. We want our gym packed in the three remaining home games before entering the play offs and we want our fans to push the team so that we can celebrate together our qualification to play offs » the Greek coach initially stated.
Asked about the injured players, the Olympiacos coach said that "since yesterday, all of our players are practicing, we'll see how today's practice goes and I think it's going to be up to me to decide who plays and who doesn't. We have 14 players at our disposal, only Maragkos is out, so, we'll be picking the 12 that are playing out of those 14 tomorrow at practice".
On how to deal with Darusafaka at the perimeter, the Olympiacos coach answered that "they have four players with huge offensive talent, they are players that can make a lot of problems for you on one on one. We need to be very focused, they play with instinct, so we need to be ready from moment one to not allow them room for their style of playing but rather force them into our own style. We know what we need to do and how to play them. I also need to say that they are an athletic team, a team that goes for the offensive boards a lot and we need to stay focused and not allow them renewing offenses and scoring following offensive rebounding".
Asked on whether they have started calculating about the final ranking of the regular season, the Olympiacos coach was clear: "No, we are not. We are not thinking about how we are going to be ranking at the end, because no one knows who is finishing at what rank. What we do, is trying to do our jobs the best we can on the floor and prepare for every game and fight with all you've got. We haven't targeted a specific ranking, we just know that we have come a long way and need to fight hard to finish as high as possible".
GIORGOS PRINTEZIS: «I think we are ready, we have worked for this game, but let's not forget that Darusafaka is a team that relies on its perimeter, they have very talented big players, they run the fast break, but they are also good with set games. They are a very good team, in good shape right now, and we need to be very careful. We are down the final stretch, all tough and crucial games are from this moment on. We have had a very good and steady course up to now, without ups and down, we have gotten great victories at home and on the road and we need to keep it that way».
DOMINIC WATERS: «Wanamaker is one of the best guards with the Euroleague right now and I'm ready to face him. He's going to be ready just like in any other game and we are ready to play against him. We need to not allow them get into rhythm. They are a team with excellent guards, that's their coaches style, it was the same with Maccabi. This is going to be the key, stop them at fast break, not allow them easy scoring, they are an athletic team, fast, and we need to stop them. We also have a strong perimeter. We have tried hard without Vasilis (i.e. Spanoulis) and now that he's back, we are going to be even better. Guards should be helping with rebounding, it's not a task only for the big players. Good defense includes rebounding and through good defense we are going to be playing good in our offense as well».