Bartzokas: «The game will prove if we have learned our lesson»
Olympiacos left for France, to play against Villeurbanne tomorrow (19/01, 20.45 CET), for the postponed game of the 10th round of the Euroleague.
Kostas Papanikolaou and Giannoulis Larentzakis did not travel to Lyon (injury list). On the contrary, Hassan Martin was incorporated in the delegation, following his absence in the Friday game (15/01) against the French team (20th round).
Just before the ‘reds’ departure, the coach of Olympiacos, Giorgos Bartzokas, was asked whether his team has learned its lesson following the loss to Villeurbanne last Friday. “We hope … You never know. The game is always proof of whether a team is progressing, if they are ready, determined and able to conquer its goals. So, the game will prove, if we have “learned our game”. I’d like to say that for me, the loss to Villeurbanne was not only a product of underestimating the opponent or having a lax approach to the game, but also that of the opponent’s good performance. I still think that Villeurbanne is a good team, regardless of ranking. They are a team with talent and athleticism”.
Asked whether the plan for the previous game had been correct, but was rather not applied correctly, or whether he shall have to revise some parts in view of tomorrow’s (19/01) game, he replied: “Both. Obviously, it’s not only the players that bear responsibility for a negative result, the coaches bear responsibility as well. So, our tactics had also not been the proper ones. We are making some changes, but, it’s important, and I’m not using that as an excuse, that the two more ‘hustle’ players on our roster, Papanikolaou and Martin had been off the team’s rotation. And it was a game that clearly went there, to intensity and contact. They are two players that are very important to us in that aspect”.
And concluded: “To become the team we need to be, we need to be good after games won. I think that following defeats, all teams get together and have extra motivation to prove themselves. However, we were coming from three back to back wins, we had to win one game at home and we didn’t do that. I believe that we are going to be changing levels when we do that… When we win the games that we definitely need to win”.
«We need to play tougher»
The ‘reds’ American guard, Aaron Harrison, pointed out about the game: “It was a tough loss for us. They played better than we did and deserved to win. It was simply one of those nights… We need to play much tougher in tomorrow’s game, as a team and come out on the floor ready to fight more. Like I said, we need to play tougher than them and shoot with good percentages. If we do that, I believe we are not going to have a problem”.