Petrusev: “I’m sorry that I won’t play with Olympiakos – Maybe they would like to have me now – Barzokas is a good person”

THE Philip Petrushev belongs to Olympichas been loaned to Red Starbut in tonight’s match between the two teams in Belgrade he will be… a spectator, since according to the agreement he has no right to participate. He does not hide that he would like to compete.

“I had a virus, but luckily it came at the… right time. I’m already better and I’ll be over it soon. Anyway, I have no right to participate in the game with Olympiakos. I’m sorry I can’t help, because Olympiacos will also be weakened and I believe I would play well because I know them, both the system and the players. I could help the team a lot, so I’m sorry I won’t be able to play. However, I will be able to give advice to my teammates and reveal the secrets of Olympiakos“, he told Meridian Sport.

“Olympiacos will not have a very important player, Fal. So apart from Milutinov they have no other center and will have to improvise, something they don’t do often. I think we have a chance to foul Nicola, take advantage and dominate under the basket“, he added.

In the current situation, with Fall and Wright out of contention and Mensah not yet integrated, Petrusev would be useful to Olympiakos. “Yes, Olympiacos would probably like to have me now. I didn’t leave just because of the participation time. I was playing for Olympiakos at the beginning of the season when there were injuries, but even then I had the desire to return to Red Star and I didn’t give up, so it finally came true“, he said.

At the same time, he mentioned his relationship with George Bartzokaswho in the previous visit to Belgrade had been in the spotlight. “Coach Bartzokas is who he is. I want to point out that he is a very nice person. Sometimes he gets carried away with emotion on the court, but he’s really good to work with. He is a real champion and I think it will be a good atmosphere in the stadium. I don’t think it will be like with Partizan and there won’t be any incidents, because the two groups are brotherly. I expect a quiet match in this regardcommented Petrusev.

As for Olympiacos and its advantages? “I believe that the great strength of Olympiakos is the individual quality of its players. Also Barzoka’s system has not changed, the principles are the same and it gives players the ability to utilize their characteristics. The most important thing is to know their strengths and weaknesses. That’s why we have to force them to take the hardest shots, which they don’t like».

Finally, he made a special mention to Sasha Vezenkov. “Vezenkov is the best player of Olympiakos and the team is completely different when he plays. When he is often absent the team does not know what to do, it happened in the match against Partizan. His presence will make things much more difficult for us“, he said.