Bartzokas: «We’ll fight with all we’ve got»
The Olympiacos coach, Giorgos Bartzokas, as well as Giorgos Printezis, agreed that the Back2Back European Champions will give all they’ve got for Olympiacos to tie the series against Real Madrid on Wednesday.
GIORGOS BARTZOKAS: “There is no differentiation in regard to the goal. We’ll play with determination, we are not thinking about a fifth game. We are only focusing on the fourth one. Nor anyone can sleep relaxed following the 2-1 record. We play against the best team in Europe right now, they are a team with great quality and we’ll have to fight for every ball, every possession and try to win with all our strength, nothing less. This is our only pursuit. I think that anyone that understands basketball even a little bit, can see where we had targeted and if they read stats correctly, they can see the strengths and weakness of Real. I think they are powerful in every aspect. Experience is their main weapon, its players have won titles, they have seen things and have chemistry together. Real was built to win the Euroleague this season through a series of moves in the past years. I hear that maybe Mirotic joins the Bulls next season, Llull maybe going with the Rockets, so this season is their big chance. We want to win and put pressure on them. We are waiting for our fans to support us, just like they did in the third game; it’s going to be of major help to us”.
As for what he’s expecting from his team, the Greek coach said that “ I want us to be as determined as yesterday. As an example, Printezis was away for some time and he has played three games in ten days. You saw Carroll last night, an experienced player, who was not able to perform. You also need some luck to beat Real Madrid. Petway has a tight adductor, he will not be practicing today, if it were for any other game he wouldn’t be playing, he helped us last night, he brought a lot of energy to the game and I hope he will be able to help us tomorrow as well. We’ll be preparing some new defensive element, but I think that the most important factor is the mental preparation of the players for this series. Stratos (i.e. Perperoglou) will be practicing today since Good Tuesday, so I not only think it’s risky, I think it’s irrational to use him tomorrow. I hope we win and he can help us afterwards”.
GIORGOS PRINTEZIS: “I think that all of these factors, psychology and tactics, energy, plan, atmosphere, played a part in winning. But we still haven’t accomplished anything. I think these games are very special; too many things play a role. Luck, personality, plan are the keys for the teams involved”.
Asked on what is the key to decide the fourth game, the 29year old forward answered that “Many things play a part, these are games leading to the Final Four and you need to pay attention to details. Each time is something different, yesterday it was I, tomorrow it may be someone else, I hope it doesn’t come to making some big shot. I don’t think that we have won that many titles to make us complacent. In the country that we live in and in our area of work, you have to each day prove yourself and also get better. You always play for the fans and your team”.