Bartzokas: «Our team has motive»
The time everyone in Olympiacos was waiting for, has arrived! After many months of inaction due to the coronavirus, the ‘reds’ are ready to once again play an official game! The opponent for the Euroleague premiere is Zalgiris (October 1, 20.00 CET), and the game shall be played at the SEF without the presence of fans.
The coach of Olympiacos, Giorgos Bartzokas, was asked about his initial thoughts… “My thoughts are happy ones, because I and the team are in environment we want to be in, under uniquely difficult circumstances and I’m talking about COVID-19. You can understand that all teams are going to be entering a new reality, that is peculiar for everyone and we need to see how we are going to be cope with it. The fact that we play the first game at home without our fans, automatically gives advantage to the guest. That applies to all games played without fans. At the same time, it will be interesting to see our level of readiness. I don’t need to say that no team is at a very good place right now. Of course, teams that play their local leagues have already played some games. Zalgiris has already played three, contrary to what we have done. This is a problem for us. We should have played more games. Despite having had a specific pre-season schedule, we weren’t able to play more friendly games due to Covid-19. So, right now, we need to take up our official games kind of hastily”.
He was then asked to ‘reveal’ whether the ‘red’ roster that we created during this past summer represents what he had thought about it. “Yes, 100%. Given the rules of the market, the Greek market and the assets every team has to dispose of, I believe we did a very good job as a team in regard to choosing players. Our base is that we have a team with a motive and it only remains to show on the floor how good we are. I believe that we will be getting better as time goes by. The fact that we have new faces is one that as you can also realize, creates a homogeny problem. This was obvious in the two friendly games we played in Germany when we had a total of 50 turnovers, an unnatural number. We need to contain the turnovers trying to find one another on the floor and of course win the game tomorrow, which is hard”.
Ερωτηθείς για το ποια θα είναι η αγωνιστική βάσει των «ερυθρολεύκων», απάντησε: «Αυτό δεν είναι εύκολο να το πεις. Επί της ουσίας ένα μεγάλο μέρος της front line άλλαξε. Είχε διαφορετικά χαρακτηριστικά πέρυσι ο Νίκολα Μιλουτίνοφ και ο Όγκουστιν Ρούμπιτ. Φέτος έχουμε μαζί με τον Έλις, που ήρθε στα μέσα της περσινής σεζόν, ουσιαστικά τρεις νέους παίκτες στην φροντ λάιν . Επίσης έχουμε τρεις περιφερειακούς καινούργιους, μαζί με τον Λαρεντζάκη τέσσερις. Ο Χαραλαμπόπουλος θα έχει ρόλο στην ομάδα μας, είναι και εκείνος καινούργιος. Θα προσπαθήσουμε να παίξουμε με ταχύτητα. Και όταν λέω ταχύτητα δεν εννοώ μόνο στο transition, αλλά να παίξουμε γρήγορα στην άμυνα και την επίθεση. Να έχουμε ταχύτητα στην σκέψη, στην εκτέλεση και στις αντιδράσεις μας».
Asked what the corner stone for their playing style is going to be, he replied: “It’s not easy to say. Practically, a big part of our front line has changed. Nikola Milutinov and Augustine Rubit had different characteristics last season. This year, together with Ellis, who joined us in the middle of last season, we actually have three new players in our front line. We also have three new guys at the perimeter, together with Larentzakis they are four. Charalampopoulos will have a role in our team, but he’s still a new guy. We will try to play up-speed. And when I’m talking speed, I don’t only mean in the transition, but we should also play fast on both ends of the floor. We need to be quick in our thinking, our execution and our reactions”.
«We are always eager and hungry»
On his part, Vassilis Spanoulis stressed: “We had a normal pre-season, like every other year. The only difference has to do with the difficult situations we’ve been experiencing due to the pandemic and the fact that no fans are going to be watching the games… As for the athletic framework, everything is the same. We work on a daily basis to go where we want to and we hope that together with getting better, we are also going to be winning games”.
Asked whether he thinks the team is “hungry” for success, he replied: “We are always eager and always hungry. You cannot be successful for ten years in a row. We had been at the top for 7 – 8 years. It’s only logical that some things intervene that take you backwards, however, the administration and the coach did the best the could so that we are competitive this season”.
The captain was asked about the serious injury that left him far from action for a long time and how he was able to recuperate… “I focused and isolated myself, rested and took care of my leg during spring and summer, so that I would be ready this coming season. The challenge is always about the team. You always want the team to succeed so that we can reach our destination goals”.