Bartzokas: «Stops on Jones and Okobo»
Olympiacos has already left the emphatic win against Bayern behind and is ready to host Villeurbanne tomorrow (17/12, 20.00 CET) for the 16th round of the Euroleague.
“I don’t think that how we had been a day before plays any role. What counts is how focused we are on the game ahead of us”, the ‘reds’ coach, Giorgos Bartzokas, pointed out. “The game against Villeurbanne has elevated difficulties. Our opponent is coming from four consecutive defeats, but this has to do with how their key offensive players, Jones and Okobo had been shooting, and they hadn’t been shooting well in the past four games. We have to play good defense on the two players I just mentioned, this is very important because they are the ones facilitating things for Villeurbanne’s game. We have to be compact, play together and do all the things that count in contemporary basketball”.
When asked about the differences between Bayern and Villeurbanne and what it is Olympiacos must do to get the win, he said: “Each team is different and you need to have a different plan each time. Neverthless, an unbreakable rule for me is that you have to pass the ball a lot. If you attack selfishly against athletic teams, who are good at attacking the ball handlers, without moving the ball, then you are not going to get results. So, the players need to be ready to pass the ball a lot and have the patience to go with good choices. We need to be as compact and tough with our defense just like with our first half last night”.
Finally, when asked about the problems Villeurbanne has been facing, he commented: “We don’t know which players are going to be playing tomorrow. Kahudi did not play their last game because he had been sick, Fall did not enter the rotation… We have to see who is going to be playing, but who isn’t playing is also a factor. Health is a key element with the Euroleague”.