Bartzokas and 'Pap' about Fener
The delegation of Olympiacos left Monday morning(30/01) for Istanbul, where they will be playing against Fenerbahce tomorrow
.Kostas Sloukas, who is injured, did not travel with the team, while Alec Peters, although with the delegation, is also dealing with an injury and his participation in the game is doubtful.
"I'm the one who talks about team game every time, so we are going to have to rely on that, just like we have been doing throughout the season", was what the 'red & whites' coach, Giorgos Bartzokas, had to say. "It's a difficult game, under difficult circumstances. Apart from Sloukas, who is not traveling, Peteres suffered a sprain yesterday, I don't know if and how much he's going to be able to play tomorrow. I don't think he's that ok. We'll see. The games are back to back and we have to get together and count how many of us are left"
Asked about how he expects tomorrow's game to evolve, he replied: "I expect a difficult game. The game is also important for Fener. If you take a look at the ranking, all the teams, from the first one through the tenth place, are very close. So, any loss costs dearly. About our opponent, it's a good chance they revenge the loss at the SEF, where they had lost with a very wide difference, but also to fight to make the TOP-8, just like all other teams are doing. There's no doubt they have a very good coach. They have a talented and experienced roster. In no case we expect to have an easy night".
About what his team needs to be doing, so they get back with the win, he said: "You can see the stats. My associates have analyzed them. To be honest, we are now going to be having our first meet, since we have had a game last night. Calathes' facilitation is important, Wilbekin's execution is important, they have good athletes in every position. So, we need to be solid, play our game, pass the ball a lot, create good options for execution and of course, play good defense".
On his part, captain Kostas Papanikolaou got to stress: "We haven't had much time. We played last night, we played on Friday... But the way the schedule is, we are not the only team to have so many games in such a short time. I think however, that we are all experienced enough to think and be mentally prepared".
About how they are going to fill in for Sloukas' void, he said: "Each player is a serious absence for us. We need everuyone and all the pieces of the puzzle together. From that point on, we can't be looking at what we don't have, but we have to concentrate on what we have and evolve it. We have proved in previous games also that we can do that, so we need to do something of the kind this time also".
Finally, about the Turkish team, he commented: "They are not going to be the same team we played against at the SEF and it's definitely not going to be the same game. They have had too many absentees in the first game. Now, they are going to be having their fans with them, in a tough court for anyone who gets to play there. As for the tactical part, there are many things we have to pay attention to. It's Calathes, it's Wilbekin, it's Motley, it's their forwards... They have pluralism in general and many players that can hurt you on their good night. That's why we cannot single out any one player. We have, through our tactical game, to contain their assets, so that the scales tip in our favor".