Bartzokas: «I'm very happy with the win, each game counts»
Olympiacos' head coach Giorgos Bartzokas appeared satisfied with the result, but not with his team’s performance, during the press conference following the away win over Maccabi Tel Aviv.
In his opening statement, he said: “First of all, I want to thank all our fans who traveled from Greece to support us. At the very least, even though we didn’t play well, we gave them the joy of victory. It was a ‘crazy’ game. Maccabi equally deserved to win, but in the end, we scored, if I’m not mistaken, 30 points in the last quarter. We had a total of 26 assists. 16 in the second half alone, and managed to go on an 11-0 run at the end to take the win. In the closing moments, we needed two or three major defensive stops, including the last possession against Walker, and we executed them correctly. I’m very happy with this win. In the EuroLeague, every game counts. We need our strong defenders to return because at this stage we need to show significant improvement.”
When asked specifically about the performances of Frank Ntilikina and Tyler Dorsey in the fourth quarter, Bartzokas said: “When you win, you’re always happy. They did the right things to help us get the win. However, defensively we had a lot of issues. I distinctly remember a similar game here when Maccabi beat Hapoel, again with one particular player scoring three or four times in a row and deciding the outcome. Something similar happened today. That specific player found his rhythm and was on fire. Some of the shots were completely open, others were very well contested. But when a player like that gets going early, the only thing you can do is hope he misses. That’s why I say we’re missing our defensive ‘stoppers’; the players who can make a difference on defense. It’s clear we have enormous offensive talent, we scored 30 points in the final quarter, but we need to become tougher on defense. I hope with the return of our injured players and the right adjustments, we’ll significantly improve. This was our fourth game in just a few days, including the derby against Panathinaikos on Sunday. We don’t have a deep rotation, and it was clear we lacked freshness and energy. Fortunately, we won, but now we need a day of rest before getting back to work.”