On the subject of the sequels injuries was mentioned in a characteristic way o George Bartzokas.
As part of his media day Olympiakouthe Greek technician stated that after the World Championship -generally in the Euroleague teams- the players “fall down o one after the other».
So answering with humour if you need any… unction to address the situation, he emphasized that no one who knows basketball doubts his quality Sikma and informed about the availability of Goss, Milutinov and McKissick.
What Bartzokas said in detail
For the injuries of Olympiakos and other teams: “The way games are, they are for all teams survival matches. After the World Championship I consider it the Euroleague of injuries. Red Star lost players yesterday. I’m not saying it’s because of the World Cup, but in general it’s such a tough competition, with so many back-to-back and demanding nights, that you see players go down one after another. We have paid too much for it.”
For Sikma’s return against Maccabi: “Sikma came back yesterday and helped. He gave eleven quality minutes, even though he was not in the program because he had only done one team practice. I think no one who knows basketball doubts that he has quality. The point is for him to be in good shape and help the team find a rhythm. This is not done in a day or two. It needs time. We have nothing else to do. We have to manage the situation we have.”
On the Williams-Goss situation: “I don’t know, it will be seen today. Nigel will now have an MRI to see the extent of his injury. We have nothing else to do but go out and fight, preparing for the game as best we can.”
On Red Star’s injuries: “I read that Red Star also has injury problems. Napier broke his nose, dos Santos I don’t know if he will play, but in any case – if we stand on that we lose the essence of the thing – which is to win the match”.
On how the arrival of Yannis Sfeiropoulos changed Red Star: “The match is difficult. It was also seen from how Red Star played yesterday. He has changed coaches. Giannis has gone and he has changed a little the way they want to play, with more intensity in defense. It certainly shows that they have good psychology. After the first two defeats against Partizan, they lost very hard in Barcelona and yesterday they won easily. But Fener was also absent yesterday. I mean right now, what counts is the wins, regardless of who plays and who doesn’t.”
On the situation of McKissick and Milutinov: “McKissick regularly does individual training. On Monday, he will join the team. Milutinov is on schedule to come in on Tuesday as well, but I’m not sure about that. We should reconsider it. So they are both out for tomorrow and probably for Sunday with Marousi”.
On the need for Olympiacos to make a wish oil: “I said it should be done at the beginning of the year and we didn’t do it. We should do it now urgently. In previous years we had a great season and didn’t have an injury all year. That’s why we were successful. This year it didn’t happen, I don’t know why and we are all injured.”
Source: Sport Fm
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