Bartzokas: “We are on a good level, we combine quality with toughness”

Olympiakos left on Wednesday afternoon (January 19) for Tel Aviv, where they will play in the 22nd game of the EuroLeague against Maccabi (January 20, 9:05 p.m., Novasports Prime and LIVE from Sportish). Red-Whites coach George Bartzokas spoke about the points that will matter in the game and the team’s situation after the Fenerbahce defeat.

“After the game against Fener, we gave another game for the Greek championship, which showed that we are on the right path. We played with intensity and that is what is required this season. We have that missed in Istanbul and now we want to do it again.” We are “significantly better than a week ago, as is the case with all teams. The first game after Corona is always difficult. Now we’ve lost two games and I think we’re at a good level.”

Regarding the “keys” of the game, he said: “We also have a combination of quality and toughness. We believe that we can ‘expand’ our roster, play as a team on defense and offense and control the tempo by avoiding mistakes, making good decisions on offense and rebounds. It’s always important because it’s not a team that runs particularly well in the transition phase, but when they play with enthusiasm they also bring the world into the game. It’s a difficult game anyway, as always in Israel, and now it’s a higher difficulty level because it’s in a difficult position “Maccabi is now under pressure to get into the 8th team after a series of unsuccessful results”.

When asked to comment on Giannis Sfeiropoulos, with whom he connects Olympiacos but also Panionios, he supported: “Giannis’ teams are always well prepared. He leaves nothing to chance. His teams have a common component, so we certainly expect a tough defense. This year’s Maccabi squad is a little different from previous squads. The structure of the game “It’s lots of iso in one on one, it’s not a team that passes a lot. We have to prepare for the Maccabi players, combined with Giannis’ philosophy of course.”

For his part, Thomas Wookup said of the match: “Interruption is no longer an excuse. It’s something that everyone faces anyway. It’s not something we can “step on” and say we lost to it or anything. It’s over. We had a bad game away from home and now we have to get back on track and win the game.

They have a lot of energy, they play strong defense at home and that’s something we have to “fight”. If we do that then we can talk about tactics and everything else. Playing with appropriate energy and defense will be the key to victory. A tough defense is the beginning. If we start thinking about mismatch or anything else, there’s no value if we don’t get the ball where it needs to go and play strong defense. “That’s always the first thing and the rest follows.”