Bartzokas: «They are a team of fighters»
Olympiacos will be hosting Zalgiris without his 6th player (court punishment) on Friday, October 14, 20:00 CET and that’s exactly the point the ‘red & whites’ coach, Giorgos Bartzokas mainly focused on.
“We are excite to begin with our Euroleague home games. Of course, we would very much like to have fans with us and the fact that we are not going to is a big disadvantage for us. First of all, because we would really love to play again in front of our fans, following the last games against Panathinaikos here last season, but also because we need their support. It’s important to have them by our side in every Euroleague game. Zalgiris is a team that causes big time problems for the opponent. They have changed their roster a lot. They have talented Lithuanian players, who however, play the Euroleague for the first time. They have also acquired new players. They are a fighters’ team, that never gives up the game. That was obvious in the game against Maccabi. They put big pressure on the ball, they trap on every screen on the ball and they play with great intensity. They also go very strong for the rebounds. It will take a very good game on our part. We must not underestimate the opponent in any scenario. We have to play really focused because Zalgiris will only take advantage if we don’t. They are a team that will give a very hard time to many Euroleague teams, at home or on the road”.
The captain, Kostas Papanikolaou, will not be playing in the game against the Lithuanian team. On the contrary, Joel Bolomboy and Isaiah Canaan are expected to be available for coach Bartzokas. “Papanikolaou will not be playing, he’s not ready. For the other two players that had been facing problems, I’m optimistic that they’re playing”.