Bartzokas: "We can do nothing else but work"

The need for Olympiacos to regain the playing rhythm acquired before the break was stressed by the Olympiacos’ coach, Giorgos Bartzokas, following the defeat to Maccabi in Tel Aviv.

“I would like to congratulate Maccabi. They played with want, big motivation and deserved the win. For us, it was the second game in a row that we did not play the way we wanted to. We did not deserve to win, because we did not do all the important things that lead to a positive result. I’m talking about fouling when fouling is necessary, about hustling, about winning equally contested balls, all the things that are important in basketball. We were second to go to the ball. We did not deserve to win. Congratulations to Maccabi. That’s Euroleague. You have to immediately get over of the result, win or lose. With everything that has happened with the pandemic, the game put offs, twenty days without games and so many covid cases… we need to get back to a good place the soonest possible”.

Asked about whether the first round outcome, when Olympiacos had easily won at the SEF, had influenced the approach of his players in tonight’s game, he said: “No, not in any case. As I said before the game, the outcome is not only up to you, but also to your opponent. We found Efes after a game that had been decided at overtime and we had a lot of energy. Now it’s us that have a problem, because we haven’t found rhythm through games. Of course Maccabi has been dealing with the same issue, because, if I recall correctly, their last game before tonight’s had been on January 3. However, we have had eight players with covid and it seems that up until the road game against Panathinaikos, we have had good rhythm and were playing together. We now have a lot of players that are out of shape. We can do nothing else but work. That’s the only way”.