Giorgos Bartzokas spoke at the press conference following the end of the first quarterfinal between Olympiacos and Kolossos Rhodes for the Stoiximan GBL.
In his opening comments about the game, the Olympiacos head coach said: “Our obligation was to play 2 games for the 1-8 positions in the Greek Playoffs, and we would have liked to use them more as ‘preparation,’ but it’s understandable that Kolossos had gone a very long time without playing games, without much motivation to advance. Rhodes is a beautiful island this time of year, and it’s difficult to stay fully focused. We still have one more game on Saturday, in which we need to stay serious, win it, and prepare for next week.”
When asked whether practices are sometimes more intense than games and whether there was any issue concerning the players who did not play, coach Bartzokas replied: “To be honest, not sometimes; but rathe every time. At the moment we have 16-17 players and 3 different lineups with strong internal competition, and one practice session is more important than a game like this, especially when the playing time is shared. And I don’t want to disrespect any opponent. As for the players who didn’t play, there’s nothing to discuss. There are no injuries. We left out Vezenkov, Fournier, and Hall, who will play in Saturday’s game. We’ll continue with this kind of rotation.”
Asked whether qualifying for the Final Four with a 3-0 series sweep is an advantage or disadvantage, the Olympiacos coach answered: “It depends on how we play in the semifinal. There’s no fixed formula for this. We played against Monaco, won 3 times, and played very well. Let’s focus on that; the fact that we played 3 very good games against Monaco and are now preparing for the Final Four. We neither had the option to lose a game, nor can we say, ‘what a shame’ that we’re not playing today and haven’t all sweated in order to reach the Final Four. We’ve had several days to prepare by now, and that’s good for us.”
