Bartzokas: «Our heads got a little messed up»

The win and all the more one with a 25 point margin, was not enough for the Olympiacos’ coach, Giorgos Bartzokas to be content with.

“One would say that it was a procedural game based on the two team’s dynamics. We hadn’t wanted to approach it this way… We had aimed for a different approach, playing a more serious game. We had spans in the game when we were good in the offense. In the first part, we only had 20 assists and had only missed a two pointer out of 17 or 18 taken. Unfortunately though, the Christmas spirit together with the fact that we had a COVID case within the team and we followed the game against Panathinaikos testing every day and all that anxiety of not knowing that this whole situation causes, messed with our heads a little. We were sub par defense wise. Of course, the final score difference is indicative of the fact that the players had in mind to secure the qualification and were a little bit more relaxed. We did that. The important thing is that nobody got injured and that we won. Our goal had been to make the final four and we did that. Congrats to Ionikos, they have a good team and they work well, they move the ball well, they have a very good scorer and that’s why they have won some big games in the Greek League. We play a very important game in three days and have to prepare for that”.  

On his part, the Ionikos coach, Curro Segura, pointed out: “Merry Christmas! Congratulations to Olympiacos for qualifying to the next round of the Greek Cup. Unfortunately, we were not able to remain competitive. We tried, but we did that for less minutes than I had aimed for”.