Sfairopoulos: «Energy and passion»
The Olympiacos' coach, Giannis Sfairopoulos, summoned the fans to pack the SEF for tomorrow's game (20/12, 20.00 CET) against CSKA and 'push' the team toward a positive result. It's worth noting that there are less than 1000 tickets left for the said game against the Russian team.
"We have a difficult game tomorrow", the 'reds' coach admitted and continued: "CSKA is a team constantly present at Final Fours and has the capacity to be there this year as well. They already lead the ranks with only two losses. They are a team we know very well and they know us just the same. They have the best offense in the competition and what we, that have the best defense, need to do is to void their assets. CSKA has a quality roster and all their players can hurt you. We need to cope as a team and play our game. We hope the fans pack the gym and push our team to performing very well".
On the absence of Nikola Milutinov (injury) : "He will not be playing and we need to play with different plans on both ends of the floor. It's not only Milutinov… For all those not playing we have the ability to cover for their void. All the guys are capable of helping the team and I expect them to do it once again".
When he was asked to compare the games against the Army team during Final Fours to those during the Euroleague regular season, he stressed: "These games are different and both teams know that well. We focus on those of the regular season. Our mission against CSKA is always hard. They are a very good team, with very good players. The most important thing is to remain focused and do what we need to. It's not the time to compare Final Four games to those of the regular season. Anyway, it's very early to be talking about the final four".
Finally, when asked if the number of injuries have had a psychological toll on the team, he answered: "It's really very hard. The main factor is not psychological, but that of the game itself. When you miss players, you need to find ways to cover for them and you are forced to change your style of playing on both ends of the floor. All the more, some players are worn down by having to play more minutes. We need to manage all that, so as the team keeps performing well. That's hard. Managing new givens. How we need to play and how to operate… When a player leaves or someone else comes back from an injury, it always takes time for the adjustment. It's not easy. And this can only be solved with psychology… That is, everyone needs to be really determined and play hard to cover with energy and passion for the players that are missing".
«I like the energy of the fans»
Jamel McLean said about the game against the Russian team: "CSKA comes as the No1 offensive team in the Euroleague, so we need to play very good defense and stop their guards, since they play with them a lot. They have great guards. We need to control the rhythm, stop them with our good defense and play our game in offense".
Asked on whether he needs to be doing something extra given the absence of Nikola Milutinov, he answered: "I don't feel I should be doing anything extra. I think that we need to continue playing as we have been playing. As a team. There is no extra effort I should be making. The only thing I need to do is to play hard, with energy and do the best I can for the team to win. Despite the injuries, we are a healthy team. We may lose any one player, but the others cover for them. The coach has faith in all the players, so what we need to be doing is continue playing hard and at some point we all are going to be healthy and finish the season strong.
The 'red' fans are going to have a dynamic presence once again, which makes the American center happy. "It's important for us. The players and I personally, really like the atmosphere and energy we get from our fans. We need to play hard and it's going to be a great game in a very good atmosphere".
«We'll give our soul»
Ioannis Papapetrou pointed out: "First of all, we need to pay attention to CSKA's creation on the floor. I'm talking about the guards that either score or create. A lot start from them and we need to contain them. CSKA has the best offense, our strong asset is defense. This is what leads us to winning big and that's where we need to be starting from. We need to stop CSKA from scoring twos and threes with very high percentages and contain them as much as possible in scoring".
On the absences of Dimitris Agravanis and Nikola Milutinov, he said: "Agravanis' absence is very important. We'll miss him a lot. The most important thing is for him to get well. We wish him all the best. Milutinov's absence is equally important, because he's a very different player from the other centers of the team and gives us very different things. However, that's what we know, to fight. We played for two months without Spanoulis and the team came through. We are not looking for excuses. That's what we are going to be doing now. I'm sure that everyone is ready to even give their souls to win this game".