«We should forget about Zalgiris and focus on what’s in front of us»
Olympiacos left for Milan, where tomorrow (26/01, 20.45 CET) will be playing against Armani for the 22nd round of the Euroleague. Giannoulis Larentzakis was incorporated in the delegation, who has recovered from his injury, while Kostas Papanikolaou is still at the pitch.
The meantime from the team’s return from Kaunas up to its departure to Italy was short. The coach of Olympiacos was asked about what was that he had time to do and he replied: “Two good practices, a few meetings and incorporating Larentzakis once again, which is going to be plus for us compared to the previous game”.
He said about the game against Armani Milano : “We will try to stay into the game and challenge the win to the end. We want to make a good performance. They are a team with incredible talent in the offense. Their three guards, Delany, Punter and Rodriguez, are very aggressive and very good at facilitating, at least two of them. We need to play a good defensive game, be concrete. They have some weaknesses in regard to their team defense, which are evened out by Hines and the way he plays defense. All in all, we need to avoid going at him”.
Asked whether the back to back games have had an impact on the team, he commented: “That’s our schedule. We have had seven games in a very short time. Three consecutive double game weeks. Three consecutive road games. Luckily, we have the luxury of traveling with chartered flights and hence avoid more fatigue. The Euroleague is a marathon. Big wins, painful losses… That latest loss in particular, was extremely painful the way it happened. As a result, it hadn’t been catastrophic, in the sense that Zalgiris is a very good team, just like Villeurbanne is. Had we won both games, it would have been fantastic for me. What upsets us is the way we lost, while having held the win in our hands. From that point on, we need to forget about it and focus on what’s in front of us”.
Finally, when asked to make a comment for the one year anniversary from Kobe Bryant’s death, he said: “What has transpired this past year, in 2020, had not been normal, they had a toll on all of us. This fact is one of those not normal ones, especially for us who love basketball. He had been a very significant persona. Despite not being an active player at the time of his death, he still had enormous impact on everyone’s basketball lives. I can’t say anything more though, because there have been so many people to have lost their lives for so many different reasons this year, that we need to address what is happening in our society in such a large scale. His absence is huge for basketball though, that’s certain”.
«We have faith in our ability to win»
Giannoulis Larentzakis pointed out about the game: “I’m quite well. I have practiced twice with the team and I feel very good. I’m ready. The loss in Kaunas was tough, but we need to leave it behind us because we have one more double game week ahead of us, and these games are very important in our battling to stay on course. We are going to Milan having faith and having worked quite well to get the win”.
When asked to comment about Armani’s winning streak, he said: “They have players with enough talent and they are very strong in every position indeed. We should remain firmly within our plan, play very good defense, both one on one and as a team, so as to get the result we want. We have shown to be much more focused and serious following some painful losses. So, I believe we are going to be focused enough and do what we need to get the victory in Milan”.