Bartzokas: «Morris' return is very important for us» (Vid)
Giorgos Bartzokas and Donta Hall got to speak about our team’s qualification for the final of the Allwyn Final 8 of the Greek Cup, at the press conference following the win over Maroussi.
The Olympiacos' head coach said about the matchup: “Congratulations to our players. We did our job the way we were supposed to, without being under particular time pressure and without having to make an excessive effort. With the quality we have, I would say we won the game as everyone expected. However, when everyone expects it, the coach handling the situation always has more things on his mind; such as making sure no one gets injured, which unfortunately happened with Nikola Milutinov, and I hope it’s nothing serious, and also getting players like Monte Morris back into rhythm. It was very important for us that he returned. He hadn’t even played five-on-five in practice, because we hadn’t had that type of training. Even so, he helped us a lot and showed his quality. Congratulations to Marousi as well; they’re playing much better now. They really weren’t an opponent we could beat just by walking through the game.”
When asked how Olympiacos managed to limit Maroussi, Bartzokas replied: “Basketball has two things you must do: play well on offense and play well on defense. No team that achieves important things can do just one of the two; that puts a ceiling over your head. We have the ability to rely on some very good defenders, but more importantly, some players who weren’t used to doing that in their careers have now started making a big effort in that direction, understanding the demands at Olympiacos. We were able to contain players like Darius Macon, Marcus King, and London Perrantes, who didn’t play much, but that’s their coach’s decision, as well as their strong forwards and two very good big men. The fact that they scored 67 points, even though we relaxed for a long stretch of the third quarter, shows the dynamic we have as a team. In my opinion, it’s not enough to be good on just one side of the court.”
Regarding the injury of Τyrique Jones, the Olympiacos coach said: “We only have one practice session, tomorrow. From the diagnosis you’ve learned that he has tendinitis, which is treated with therapy, strengthening, and medication. He’s doing all three. We hope that tomorrow in practice he’ll be available, because now we have doubts about whether Milutinov will be available.”
Donta Hall commented the following on the game: “Honestly, it was a good team effort. We came here knowing it wouldn’t be easy. We knew we had to play hard, and that’s what we did.”
Watch the full press conference in the VIDEO below.