Bartzokas: «We are focusing on the demanding schedule»

Olympiacos secured a through and through home court advantage with the win over Apollon, but refuses to relax though, since there is one more game for the Greek League to be played, this time against Kolossos.

“It’s always a great joy to be playing in such a basketball loving gym. The fans love the sport. And of course it’s a pleasure to play in front of our fans who have traveled here from western Peloponnese”, was what the coach of Olympiacos, Giorgos Bartzokas stressed at the beginning of his statement and went on as follows: “It was a pleasant game for the fans and not that demanding for the two teams. It was more of an exhibition game, not too much defending, with an expected outcome. Apollon has achieved its goal for some games now and I would like to congratulate them for it. We are now focusing on our schedule from here on, which is very demanding”.

Asked about whether the ‘reds’ are ready for the game against Efes, he replied: “We are not ready because we have one more game in-between, that against Kolossos and then we have 3-4 more practice sessions before the said game. You understand that the series against Monaco that went to five games had been very difficult for our team, had a lot of intensity and it’s only normal for the players for several days ahead to need to catch their breaths. However, as the days go by, we need to focus and prepare, because the level of intensity in a Final Four is tremendous and we have to be ready to cope”.