Barzoka, look what you’ve done

There in Marousi the refunds are ongoing for them, and in fact many of them are…

They run constantly, systematically and uninterrupted, and now so many have been collected that Constantinos Cavafy’s poem sticks, even if it contains a grammatical error…

The “came back” I mean that the Alexandrian poet breaks the rules by inserting the forbidden enlargement into the prostate declination!

Cavafy writes: “Come back often and take me, dear Sinn, come back. and that’s exactly what happens in the wider area of ​​Agios Thomas…

The repeated returnees

First of all, the Amarousiou team itself returned to A1 after a twelve-year absence.

Miroslav Radulitsa returned to Greece after seven years.

Giorgos Skarafigas returned to the Stoiximan Basket League, although he left early, leaving his wife Vasso Guzini on the bench.

Giorgos Limniatis returned as the first coach after his spell at Lavrio last year.

Fifteen days ago, Vassilis Spanoulis returned as trainer, now after 142 months on the catwalk.

A la Bracetta with Gatzoulis

And today Giorgos Bartzokas is back again, a la bracetta with gymnast Andreas Gatzoulis…

He returns to his cradle, his cradle, his roots and his homeland as coach of Olympiakos, so cheers!

Surely the hosts will also provide a framework for Bartzokas, as happened with Spanoulis on November 4th, and there is no doubt that emotions will overflow here and there…

Even the… cements are being moved, because among the four qualities that Bartzokas gave Maroussi is that of stadium manager!

Bartzokas 4x4

He started as a talented and promising player (1979-1992), returned to his cradle as manager of the then new St. Thomas Stadium, then became an assistant coach and returned as head coach for one season in 2009…

“Rabbi, zeilano, don’t miss work.”as the song says!

Of course, Bartzokas’ basketball birthplace is not the stadium on Dionysus and Niovis streets, but the “Spyros Louis” gym located next to the power plant, but that is an insignificant detail that does not change the history or the nostalgia.

Bartzokas was born in Ampelokipi in 1965 but grew up in Maroussi and joined the Soft Nails team in 1978 as a member of the mini team, while at the same time studying at the Varvakeio Model School.

The current coach of Olympiakos was not qualified to take part in the senior team as the squad, made up of local players, was torn between the B national team and the A2 national team.

Darivas and Koutsoukos

He preceded in action the retired Nikos Darivas, who also played for Panathinaikos, while Pepes, Koloveros, Birniakos, Kalozymis, Makridakis, Papazotos and Theofanelis were part of his generation.

The role of coach was taken over by the then coach Kostas Koutsoukos, while in the years in which he played, Nikos Milos, Dimitris Sendukas, Vangelis Nikitopoulos and Vojislav Vezovics moved from the team bench.

What type of player was Bartzokas?

An agile and sensitive six, who scored with great ease and with this gift did not leave the big teams indifferent, but let his boasting be overlooked!

The two cruciate ligament tears which spoiled the transfers

When AEK wanted him, coached by Nikitopoulos, he suffered the first cruciate ligament rupture in a game with Papagou in the “Saloon” and when he accepted the proposal of Iakovos Roussos for Olympiakos, he suffered the second one and that was it!

The second and final damage he suffered was not as a player of Amarousi, but of Protea, in a friendly match, ten days before the start of the league, after being transferred on loan to the team of Neos Kosmos, whose jersey he was not around ever to wear formally!

When Bartzokas retired from active play, he went into coaching and initially took over the Pefki team, in which his current partner, Giorgos Bozikas, was shining as a goalscorer at the time.

The intellect of simplicity!

He then moved to Vrilissi and Nea Kifissia, while in 1997 Maroussi gave him the role of manager at the newly built Agios Thomas stadium, while at the same time continuing to coach ESKA Championship teams.

Six years later he was promoted to the staff of Panagiotis Giannakis, along with Vangelis Angelou (who, by the way, recently told me that “Bartzokas is the intellect of simplicity”) and Kostas Bogatsiotis.

Bartzokas left Marousi in the summer of 2006 to take over the position of head coach at Olympia Larisa, due to the betrayal of the team’s then president, his childhood friend and best man George Malakos, and from then on everything in his solo career It is history!

The Sergiani in the great salons and the fatal shot from Pelekanos

This story returned to Maroussi in the summer of 2009 when Soulis Markopoulos left the team and the team qualified to participate in the EuroLeague through qualifying!

“As if ready for a long time, so brave” (as Cavafys writes again) Bartzokas led Marousi to consecutive qualifying matches against Aris and Alba Berlin, whom he even faced at the Peace and Friendship Stadium, suddenly playing for the first time in the great salons of European basketball.

And that was all?

Maroussi also found a respite from the competition’s playoffs, but let’s ignore Michalis Pelekanos’ misplaced three-pointer on February 25, 2010 in “Pionir Hall”…

Up to that point, the Peristeriotis forward had been 5/5 from 3-point shots, but the ball didn’t do him any favors on the last throw, allowing Partizan to prevail 79-76 and advance to the round of 16 along with the eventual European champions Barcelona, ​​leaving Panathinaikos and Maroussi behind.

The unpaid bill and Vovo’s “Thank You.”

This season, Marousiotes defeated both Panathinaikos (by a shot from Billy Keys) and Olympiacos while finishing third in the championship with a budget of 1,200,000 euros that was not paid!

Despite all this, Bartzokas, as a strict Marousiotian, did not appeal and did not demand what he had received, hence the publicity.Thanks” which was addressed to him by the team’s owner, Aris Vovos.

When the curtain fell on the championship, Bartzokas left with the intention of reviving the entire organization of the team, which had passed into other hands, and moved from Marousi to Panionios, passing the baton to Vangelis Alexandris, who – by a devilish coincidence – he had replaced Larisa on the Olympia bench in 2006.

Ithaca and Argos!

In the following years he returned to Piraeus via Panionios, Olympiacos, Lokomotiv Kuban, Barcelona and Khimki near Moscow and had a rich selection of titles on his resume: championships, cups, Super Cup, EuroLeague and Intercontinental Trophy.

Tonight Bartzokas returns to his homeland and will experience his own priceless delicious Imar, just like Odysseus did when he returned to Ithaca…

Well, some Argos will always be there, like the Homeric Shepherd’s faithful dog, to… smell him and snuggle up in his arms!