Bartzokas: “I would like Vezenkov to return – If I were to choose someone from Panathinaikos it would be Nan”

News but also interesting answers from George Bartzokas to the Proteas Hoop Lab guys on a visit he had today. The coach of Olympiakos talked to the children, took many photos with them, signed autographs and answered all the questions he received.

What do we distinguish from what he said?

How he would like to have Vezenkov at his disposal again at Olympiakos, while if he had to choose a player from the eternal rival, Panathinaikos, it would be Kendrick Nunn.

“Let’s finish our moves first and then I’ll decide” he said, thus clarifying that the roster is not complete. The coach’s speech began by describing the characteristics of a successful athlete and what he looks for in players in order to trust them.

As Bartzokas said, the most important thing is the body language of the athlete he examines because the mentality and behavior are the most important for the functioning of a team.

Next reference was to the National team that now enters the battle of the pre-Olympic tournament:

“It’s the most important thing for basketball because every success of hers can make our sport more popular and bring new kids to the court.”

Here are the highlights from his responses to the questions he received from the Proteas Hoop Lab guys.



* Unfortunately hard work cannot overcome talent. You need both to get high. Maybe it takes 51 talent 49 work because players with the right mindset are also hard to come by

* The top five he would pick now for the Euroleague would have Walkup, Nunn, Papanikolaou, Vezenkov and Tavares.

* If he had to choose between school and basketball for a child, he would choose education without a second thought.

* The best coach he ever faced: At the EuroLeague level there are only excellent coaches who all deserve respect. If he has to single out someone, it will rightfully be Zeljko Obradovic with the nine Euroleagues he has won.

* He considers the most coachable player he has had in his career to be Walkup.

* If he had to choose one player from Panathinaikos that he would want in his team, it would be Kendrick Nunn, who was first approached by Olympiacos last year but was finally taken in the middle of the season by the great rival of the red and whites.

* The opponent who made his defense more difficult was Westbrook when he faced him against Barcelona.

* He prefers to play away from home than at home because it’s a unique feeling to silence the away crowd.

* Coaches have a harder time dealing with defeat because they are concerned with what went wrong and what they need to fix. In addition they need to de-stress the athletes to recover and move on.

* Fans and supporters are important for a team, but unfortunately in Greece, many times attitudes cross the line. It is important through education to improve these attitudes.

* Kanan was an important player for our team, but we didn’t keep him because we wanted a player with creation and not just execution next to Walkup.