Bartzokas: «An especially important win»
The Olympiacos’ coach, Giorgos Bartzokas, appeared to be satisfied by his team’s reaction following the lost final in Kaunas.
“Obviously, our return to the domestic competitions came three days after the final four, that regardless of how it was concluded, has created a physical and mental void. Additionally, we have quite a few players that face minor or bigger health issues. That’s why I really appreciate the fact that we won PAOK with ease here. I appreciate it because PAOK is a good team, they showed as much in the first half of the first semi-final. This win was especially important for the way it came. We play the third game on Sunday and we want to win aiming to play the fourth final this season in the competitions we have participated. We are going to focus and do the best we can, focus on returning to a good level and if we succeed, we will qualify for the finals”.
When told that his players showed to have energy reserves, since they were playing solid defence even when they were leading by 20, he said: “I beg to differ. I saw no pressure on the ball. I saw a lot of players having energy deficiency and be nervous with their game. Players that we have used to seeing playing a different defensive level this season”.
Asked about how he managed the lost final and how he prepared his team in just a few days for the Basket League semis, he said: “We had some one-on-one meetings with the players. Each one, according to their personality, how they have grown up and their sporting experiences, deals with the emotional shock we all suffered differently. Others need more support, others less. Everyone though, in all the organization, are very sad. I feel like we were hit by train. Under that lens, tonight’s game helped us a lot to get into rhythm again and start aiming our next goal. That’s life, that’s sports. You must get up when you have fallen. Right now, we have fallen, but I think that throughout the year, we have been a team that has been mainly winning, no matter the competition we were participating, and we are going to continue doing so till the end”.
On whether he thinks losing the trophy to Real is a failure, he made clear: “You all see the last shot the way the game went. We were controlling the game and we practically lost to a buzzer beater. Ten things happened on both ends of the floor that did not go our way. Should one of them had worked out in our favor, we would have won. It’s one game or one final four. To be able to play with Real for the final, we had been together for ten months, we have travelled, we have suffered disappointments, injuries, sickness, we enjoyed success… We have gone through so many emotions and the peak was the final four that we got to participate for a second year in a row and for a second year in a row, we lost to a buzzer beater. Whoever has participated such an athletic event, of such importance, can understand that it’s especially hard to manage afterwards. But, like I said before, life fixes it all… Failure or success… It depends on anyone’s analysis. I wait to assess our season after it ends. If you ask me how I feel, I feel sad. If it was a success, I wouldn’t be sad. Since being in the final, success would be winning the Euroleague ».
Finally, on whether he thinks the final four system to not be ‘fair’, he said: “Now that we have lost, we could be saying a lot of things. I like to see things the way they are. We were there the whole season, we had our chance to win this, I think we managed the situation well throughout the season. We finished first, had the best +-… I feel that Europe acknowledges the kind of basketball we played and let’s not forget our budget wasn’t even among the top eight. Let’s see which teams did not make the final four. The final four is what it is. The one who wins leaves the venue happy, and the remaining three times are almost in crisis mode. Because all the teams that go there have big ambitions. Look how Barcelona is right now after losing the semi-final. They are in crisis mode. Monaco, the same. We, not so much. We all think that exceeded ourselves. But we are still sad. So, the only one happy is the that won, and the other three, who have had a very good season to make it there, often times leave doubting their coaches, their players. I’m not talking about us, but my experience says this is that happens”.