Bartzokas: "We wanted to win for the fans that came to see us"

Olympiacos coach Giorgos Bartzokas praised the team’s fans after the big road win in Munich.

“We controlled the game defensively and offensively exactly the way we wanted; especially on defense. With the return of Thomas Walkup, Evan Fournier, and Shaquille McKissic to EuroLeague action, it’s easier for us to manage things. We’re very happy with this victory, against a team we truly respect and appreciate. I also want to say that the whole event, in this amazing arena, is a great showcase for the EuroLeague. And of course, I’m grateful to our fans. Their support was incredible. We wanted to win for them as well.”

Later, when asked about transfer speculation, Bartzokas commented: “The truth is we’re always monitoring the market, that’s our job. Every team does it. As you saw, Bayern signed [Spencer] Dinwiddie and already has a very strong roster. All teams now have great depth, because that’s the new reality in the EuroLeague. When you play 90 games a season, you need a lot of players. For us, it was most important first to see all our players together, because so far we’ve had many absences. We must make decisions based on what we see in games and practices when we’re finally complete. That’s what matters most. We were missing Papanikolaou and Keenan Evans, so we can’t rush into signings when we don’t yet have a clear picture of what we already have. I know, as you all also do,  that the talk in our country is that we need another scorer. We have Fournier, Dorsey, and Vezenkov, and people say we still need one more. Okay, that’s one way to look at it; but we just scored 100 points. I believe I know my job very well. I’m not against signing a new player, but I would only sign someone who I, the coaching staff, and the whole team believe can really help us in the upcoming games; not someone the media or social media want us to sign.”