Bartzokas: “I don’t count on Goss with Armani, Milutinov will hardly catch up”

With a dominating performance against Aris, Olympiacos easily won 102-72 for the 2nd round of the Stoiximan GBL.

At the press conference the coach of the “red and whites”, George Bartzokas she mainly focused on the absences she will have for her difficult games EuroLeague that are coming.

The statements in detail:

“Good evening to you. It was the 2nd in a row of tough games for us. We know how to play Giannis Kastritis’ team, we knew we would have to use energy, they are a team that attacks the ball, plays hard and has an identity. Of course now Aris has his European obligations, he also had the trip to Lithuania, which lowered their energy level. For us, every game in a period of integration that we go through makes us better, but at the same time it also requires a process of reintegration. The first quarter was an example of good cooperative play. Good luck on Mars.”

For the reason teams this year are struggling more than other years in their leagues: “Each team is a special case. There are teams that have lost players to injuries. The Olympiad, like the world championship last year, created a special condition for the teams, with players who did not have the opportunity to rest in the summer. Some teams lost key players if you mean Real.

Yabusele has also left and so every team needs time to play well again, they need time in their defensive game, at the moment there is a lot of instability in how we play. I think this is the reason. Also players with the experience of playing 80-90 games a year are not in the red yet. The Euroleague does not allow this, of course, because the score is important, as is every victory. There is a lot of volatility right now. The great depth on the bench helps us to play. As many teams that want to make it with a roster of 8-9 players, it will be very difficult.”

For the time Olympiacos lost rebounds: “They got lost at one point in the third quarter when the game got out to 25 points. When we worked as a team, we got the rebounds and limited Aris down low. I think the time we lost the rebounds was due to relaxation.”

On whether he counts Goss and Milutinov for the Devil’s Week matches: “For the first match, no, I don’t count them, the time period for Nigel to come back is very short, without having something serious of course. For Milutinov, he will have to do some team training to get in. But it looks in good condition. Maybe in the match on Friday, but I think the ideal would be in the game in Munich”.