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Bartzokas: «It’s a very demanding game»

The Olympiacos’ coach, Giorgos Bartzokas, stressed the necessity of his team leaving the Barcelona game behind and be ready for tomorrow’s (15/10, 20.00 CET) demanding home game against Zalgiris.

“There is always room to work on things and you have to be learning from each game”, he stressed when asked if the ‘reds’ need to improve on special situations, just like the ones they faced during the game against Zalgiris. “Of course there are things that we do well and some others that we still don’t do well, but we have room to improve upon. It’s a process that’s been taking place in every practice and every game. That’s how teams become better and good teams evolve throughout the season. We believe that we are in this process and we are going to become better. Right now though, we shouldn’t duel any longer on the game against Barcelona. That’s our philosophy, but realistically also, you can’t do otherwise. We have a game tomorrow against an opponent that we always respect. Last season, we lost two games to Zalgiris in the last possession and they are a team that always plays with confidence here. Of course they are a different team, with a different coach, however, it’s a very important game to us, following a difficult process yesterday. We played with great intensity for forty five minutes and arrived in Greece at six in the morning. However, that’s our job and we need to be ready tomorrow”.  

Commenting on the roster of the Lithuanian team in comparison to last season, he pointed out: “Zalgiris has lost 4 -5 core players, however, they substituted for them with very experienced ones. Kalnietis, Strelnieks, are players that have played at this level for many years. Giffey also… Right now they are missing Lauvergne, who is injured. They are a team representative of the Lithuanian school and they have the following characteristics… They know basketball, they play with intensity and speed. Their guards are very penetrative, Lekavicius and Mudiay attack with the ball and know how execute. It’s a demanding game and we need to be ready”.