Bartzokas: "We dominated the 4th quarter defense wise"

A few minutes after Olympiacos’ victory over Partizan for Round 9 of the EuroLeague, Giorgos Bartzokas spoke at the post-game press conference about the game.

In his opening statement, the Olympiacos coach said: “First of all, congratulations to our players and our fans for this win. I consider it a very important victory, as always. Every win matters, but especially when things aren’t going well, like tonight, it’s even more important. We executed poorly on offense; we were rushing to score and to win the game. Also, on defense, we had several chances to stop transition situations by committing a foul, but we didn’t.

Although we knew that Partizan basically has two main ways of attacking the basket, one being through their ball handlers, who play physically, attack the paint, look to score with pull-ups or floaters, or feed their bigs after the first rotation, we didn’t adjust properly and didn’t handle it well. As a result, we gave up 28 points in the paint in the first half.

When we finally realized we needed to change something, we had a dominant defensive fourth quarter, which we won 27 – 13. During that comeback, our defensive players, Ntilikina, Walkup, McKissic, and of course Milutinov with some crucial stops at the end, were very important for us.

To be honest, we expected this reaction from Partizan after four straight losses. You know they have a great coach and, of course, a lot of talent; athletic American players with very strong one-on-one skills.

In the end, we won, we’re happy; it was a tough process, but we managed to get through it. Now we move forward, try to improve, and keep working for the next games.”

Later, the Olympiacos coach was asked about the team’s assist-to-turnover ratio and their composure on offense down the stretch. He commented: “In basketball, what you do on defense and on offense are connected. When you gain confidence from consecutive steals, good defensive stops, and crucial rebounds that give you transition chances, it becomes easier to score; you find better rhythm and everyone feels more confident. When you constantly concede baskets and then go to attack, the stress reduces your confidence because you feel you must score. This was a must-win game for us. When we are defensively solid and consistent throughout the game, we will also score much better on offense.”

Watch the full press conference in the VIDEO below