Bartzokas: “I’m very happy about Fall!”

With a major return, that of Moustapha Fall, but also several absences, Olympiacos is travelling to Lyon for the game against ASVEL (03/04, 20:15 CET).

Cory Joseph (illness), the injured Frank Ntilikina and Tyrique Jones, as well as Giannoulis Larentzakis and Omiros Netzipoglou were not included in the delegation.

“I’m especially happy” said Olympiacos head coach Giorgios Bartzokas about the French center’s return. “He’s been out for almost a year after a very serious injury, but he worked hard and consistently to come back. A 2.20m body is not easy to recover after such an injury. Moustapha has been a very important part of all Olympiacos’ successes over the last 5 years. Right now, the positive contribution of every player, even if they’re just in the 12-man roster, is very important at this stage. Just having everyone healthy is something that makes me very happy.”

On the game against ASVEL, he said: “We have 4 ‘finals’ until the end of the regular season and we must do our best to achieve what we believe we deserve. There is no easy way to do that. To win in the EuroLeague, you must ‘bleed’.”

Asked how to stop the French team that likes to run in transition, he added: “There’s no secret to playing against teams that like to push the tempo. You must execute without giving them the ball, be strong on the boards, crash the offensive rebounds, and attack their weaker defenders. In general, you need to catch them in defensive imbalance. How you get back on defense, how you use fouls, how compact you are; these things always play an important role.”

On whether this is one of the deepest rosters he has had, he said: “I’ve said it before. The roster is very high-quality and very deep. That has two sides. Many players feel disappointed when they’re left out, especially in EuroLeague games. But I’ve explained to everyone that this is the situation. Essentially, we rotate depending on the opponent, form, or sometimes even without a specific reason; just to keep everyone ready and in good condition.”

Finally, on how easy it is for the team to reset after a derby against Panathinaikos, he said: “I hope immediately, because you saw the reaction after the Panathinaikos game, which, as far as I remember, was one of the least important in terms of standings. In Greek sports, not only basketball, there’s always this kind of uproar. I hope our players have isolated that and are focused on the next game, because that one is already in the past.”

Peters: “It’s a huge game for us”

Standings and the completely opposite positions of the two teams do not distract Alec Peters.

“Our recent history against ASVEL in Lyon is not great… So, anyone can look at the stats as much as they want, but at the end of the day, it’s a huge game for us and we can’t approach it with any more ease than any other. At this stage of the season, it’s very important to be sharp both defensively and offensively. I know it sounds obvious, but you can’t afford bad quarters or bad halves. At this point, rhythm is key; physicality, speed, everything we’re trying to establish. We need to impose our tempo from the start, and I hope that’s exactly what we’ll do tomorrow.”

On whether the team has moved on from the game at OAKA, he added: “Of course those games mean something extra. But after the Panathinaikos game, we all returned to practice and our routine. Everyone knows what’s at stake in the coming weeks, and we use that as motivation to keep going.”