Bartzokas: “We have conscientious, professional and motivated players”

About the characteristics he expects the game against Baskonia to have, but also the high motivation that the Olympiacos players have for the future, spoke George Bartzokas.

In detail, what he said ahead of the match with the Spanish team:

“It’s always dangerous in the Euroleague. It has to do with the approach you have in the games and with the opponent always and how you will find him. At the moment Baskonia is in very good condition. In the last games they score 101 points in Euroleague and ACB. They are first in Spain, let’s not forget, above Barcelona and Real Madrid and I don’t think anyone thinks it’s an easy match. It is a team that has some first-timers in the competition, who are very influential.

The most important thing, however, is that this is a team where everything depends on the pace at which they compete. He plays at a very high pace, they perform in the first seconds of the attack, very often by different players. That’s why they have many players who can score 30-35 points. Often the tall ones, Enoch can put up 25 points. Marinkovic can put up 35 in a game, meaning players who average six or eight points a game can easily score 35 because the way the team plays, it highlights this game and that way and you have to be ready in this.

I think we have the ability to play with speed as well. For me, speed is not just about how fast you run on the field, it’s about how fast you think, how fast you execute. The speed of the execution has also made “5X5”. We have a speed in how we play. It has to do with the creation, with the circulation of the ball, but this team has a special way of playing and we have to be ready.

It will be very interesting to see how we go tomorrow. We made a big effort, in the last training sessions and in the two videos we made yesterday and today, to put a lot of emphasis on the importance of the game. Not so much about the game as a game, but about the time period, when these things are happening now. We enter the play offs of the Greek league next week, the play offs of the Euroleague the very next and as you understand we cannot push a button and be ready in two weeks. We have to go to training and games with great intensity at the moment, to be in good shape next month.”

About how his team got here: “It is not true that we are at the same level throughout the year. Our confidence was shaken at times because it shook some players. Either from some small injuries, or bigger ones. Either some diseases, or some normal deformation, because no one can play all year, ten months at the same level. We tried through team play to overcome this. Because of this and when we had long absences of important players, the team continued to play well and often to very often win.

We don’t need to bless our beards. Here we have conscientious, professional and motivated players. This is the important thing. That is, to come in and play for victory, to play for your goals, to have ambitions. I think a large number of the group are on this page. And those who have a lot of motivation, mood and concentration put pressure on others and pass it on. And we also help a little in this”.