Bartzokas and Lee talk about Game 3 vs Real Madrid
After winning a 2-0 lead at the SEF, Olympiacos travels to Madrid needing one win to secure qualification for the Final Four. Upon the team's departure from the Eleftherios Venizelos Airport, Olympiacos' coach Giorgos Bartzokas emphasized what his team needs to focus on in Game 3 against Real Madrid.
When asked how Olympiacos will approach Game 3, he said: "We will try to be better defensively than the first quarter of the last game, to stay solid, to play for the win, and to overcome some minor injury issues that have come up, but we hope they won’t prevent the players from participating."
On the differences Real Madrid presents when playing at home: "I don't think there's some major difference, for any team really. They are a talented and experienced team, and the crowd is particularly intense, but that’s the case in all European arenas nowadays. We had the chance to win during the regular season there, playing generally well. We have to repeat that. We need to be quite if not very good to win; there’s no other way. We must capitalize on whatever Real gives us in this game and, as always, control our emotions; not get overexcited or discouraged at critical moments of the game."
Regarding the return of Thomas Walkup and how much he helps with ball pressure: "A great deal. It's very important that we have a perimeter player focused on guarding the opponent’s best or hottest player, regardless of whether that’s we're talking about a guard or a forward. The problem with Thomas is that he can’t play extended minutes after being out for three months. In the last game, we pushed him a bit more, and he had to play 10 straight minutes."
From his side, Saben Lee stated: "It will definitely be a tough game. After all, it’s hard to beat a team three times in a row, but I feel like we’re ready for it."
When asked about the most important takeaways from the first game, he replied: "Just to be aggressive on defense, stick to the game plan the coach wants us to execute, and if we keep doing those things, we’ll move forward."