Kemzura: «The keys are concentration and rebounding»
Olympiacos will be hosting Zalgiris at the SEF tomorrow (15/11, 20.30 CET) aiming to return to the victories' path.
"Zalgiris does not only give Olympiacos a hard time, but rather all teams", the coach of the 'reds' commented, when the recent history of two teams was brought up and was in favor of the Lithuanian team. "I know history is not in our favor. They are a team that plays well in all forty minutes of the game, so we need to be consistent, avoid 'dead' zones like we had in the past recent games. We need to stay focused and consistent for forty minutes. The second thing is the battle for the rebounds that comes through toughness and physical game. I believe it's the statistical category that shows how hard you play on both ends of the floor. Defensively, we have to take them out of their comfort zone. "Mess" with their game. They have been playing very well; they have many special plays for their shooters and their scorers".
When highlighted that when Olympiacos scores more than 80 points, the team wins, while when scoring up to 65, the team loses, he pointed out: "It's hard to win a Euroleague game when you score 65 points, except if your are doing an incredible job in defense. It's possible, but still, you have very little hope to win. We have to be ready for their defense. They play with assisting, they have various types of defense, and we have worked to find solutions about them. We need to be aggressive in the post and to have everyone facilitating one another".
On whether there is extra pressure on him and his players following the three home losses, he replied: "In general, there's pressure when you lose, not only when you lose at home, but also on the road. When you don't play well, you get nervous, because you want to play better and win. I hadn't known about the history. You told me it's not good and I don't want to be part of it. Of course we have anxiety and first of all we want a good game. We have been working hard at practices, all the players have been trying hard and we believe the result is going to be in our favor tomorrow. We want to be stay positive".
Talking about this co-operation with Sarunas Jasikevicius on the National team, he said: "I had coached Saras towards the end of his career. It was a privilege to be able to coach such a talented player. As a coach you cannot not be ready, however, especially with Saras, you can never be unprepared, because you have to explain him everything, what it is you're doing and why you're doing it. I have learned from my players, just like I have learned from him. He had been an exemplary professional and helped us a lot during those years, despite not being at the peak of his career".
Finally, about Mindaugas Kuzminkas leaving the team, he said: "It was a matter of circumstances. It was more his choice and we accepted it. We could not offer him more minutes. At that point, the offer from Lokomotiv came, which was also more lucrative for him. He was not pressed to do something, he was simply given a chance and he decided to use it. I wish him the best. We made the decision because after Reed's arrival, we had four big bodies, plus Vezenkov who plays as a power forward. From the moment we don't participate the Greek League, I think we are going to be OK in regard to rotation ».
«We need to find ourselves»
Kostas Papanikolaou, who overcame his injury, will be available for the game against Zalgiris tomorrow and commented accordingly: "We are not in the best situation possible. We come from two back to back losses. Both at home and both with big margins, so the last thing we think about is who our opponent is. Either it was Zalgiris, or the best team in Europe or the worst one, our goal is find ourselves and play the best basketball we can. With as much energy, will and power as possible. That's the most important thing for us right now".
Asked about how he feels, he replied: "I feel very well. We had a friendly game on Monday, when I got minutes and didn't feel bothered by my injury. I hope to be in the best possible shape to help my team mates and the team".
Finally, on whether the key is going to be defense or offense, he said: "In European basketball, but also all over the world, it's a combination of both defense and offense. You can't say I'm good in defense and I win through my defense. Basketball has evolved so much that you have to have a combination of both… Scoring when attacking and not receiving at the back court. There's too much talent in all the teams and players that can make the difference. I think we have to be really focused on both ends of the floor. What our team aims to do is to always start from its defense, so as to finding some easy bucket at the fast break, and finding rhythm through that. When you receive a bucket each time you defend and you cannot run, you get into a state of static basketball and it's not easy to find rhythm or implement plays. That applies to all teams. So, our main concern, against a team that likes to move the ball a lot and has many ways to attack, is to remain really focused on our defense".