Bartzokas: “It’s a big challenge to go to the Final 4 again, but it won’t be easy at all”

THE George Bartzokas characterized as a great challenge for him Olympic to qualify again for the Final 4 of the Euroleague, but he warned that the series with Fenerbahce will not be easy at all stressing that he fully respects the opponent. The coach of Piraeus thanked the crowd for the two sell outs but reminded that this is a basketball match and not a battle of coaches, specific players or… Greece vs. Turkey.

In detail, Giorgos Bartzokas spoke about:

-whether Olympiacos is unlucky to find Fener opposite him as eighth: “We believe that whoever the opponent was at this time, with these data, it would be a difficult team. We could have picked an opponent with the last game and we didn’t. We are true to what we stand for, that all opponents are strong. It remains for you to be ready to meet the challenges in front of you.”

-whether Fener will be affected by the absence of Booker and the doubtful participation of Wilbekin and Goodrich: “You better ask coach Itoudis how he sees it. Fenerbahçe has great depth, they have players who can play in more than one position, a typical example is Pierre and Hayes who play in 3-4. We play a big role in how they play. We don’t care, we can’t guess if they play or not. We have to prepare for all eventualities and that’s what we will do.”

– the crowded SEF and whether it will play a role against Fenerbahçe: “These are clearly questions for our opponents, how they will respond to the data. What is a hostile atmosphere? It means that here it will be very hot for us, there will be excitement, but in every stadium in Europe it happens. All of us who play at this level are ready. These are the conditions and you have to play. At the end of the day we’re talking about basketball, inside the lines you have to make a shot. I think the same applies to our opponents. I think this support will play a role for us, it will give us more impetus both in the difficult parts of the game and in the good ones. They are all too experienced to be affected by such things.”

-whether they studied the regular season games: “Yes, we always do, we show the opponent and what they have done against us and obviously Fener will do the same. We’ll isolate what we did well and what we didn’t do well. Of course a Play Off game has completely different conditions and conditions. It’s how each team approaches the importance of the game. There are players who like such games and others who get more stressed. We want to be calm, we want to play with intensity. We know it’s a big challenge to be in a second straight Final Four. We know it won’t be easy at all. We have great respect for our opponent. In no way do we underestimate the series.”

– the fights of the two teams: “Each player has his own characteristics. If Motley is at the 5, for example, he doesn’t have Fal’s size, nor does he have the strength to pass or finish from close range. On the other hand, he is mobile, he has the shot from medium distance, he is fast and often leads the transition with a dribble. Each player has specific characteristics, strengths and weaknesses. We have to stick to our team game, play our style, show the potential we have as a team and I think our opponents will do the same.”

-sold out at SEF: “It is a given that it would be sold out and we are happy. What we appreciate is that it happened many times in the regular season as well. There needs to be excitement and support here, but under no circumstances should we think it’s anything other than a basketball game. It is Olympiakos – Fener, not Greece – Turkey, nor Itoudis – Bartzokas. It’s a basketball game, to play as well as we can, to get what we and Fener deserve.”