Bartzokas: “If they think that by playing on one side they will get time, fame, contracts and money, they are being laughed at”

His 11th victory after twelve matches of the Stoiximan GBL was achieved on Sunday afternoon (29/12) by Olympicwho, though much forced by the militant Lavrios, nevertheless prevailed with a score of 87-77 at the Peace and Friendship Stadium.

After the end of the match and speaking in the flash interview, the coach of the “red and whites”, George Bartzokas, expressed his strong concern about the performance of his players.

His statements a little later on were on the same wavelength press conferencewhere the Greek coach emphasized that the mentality of the players was wrong, adding that everyone should show the same mood and energy on both sides of the floor.

In detail what Giorgos Bartzokas said:

“A big thank you to our world, for coming so many and so enthusiastically. The team must repay this factah, with better basketball in these games, with more spectacle, with better partnerships, with a better mood. It is not the first time, nor the second time, that we have allowed the opponent to put up 45 points in the half.

We all understand that without the “must” everyone plays well. We have too many players and they all have to come in and play the basketball that Olympiacos has to play on both sides of the court. If they think that by playing only one side they will get more time, more fame, bigger contracts, bigger money, unfortunately they are being laughed at. On the back side they have to show, each one, what they have to do, so that we don’t get pressured in these games and we don’t have to put our main players at the end to win».

For surpassing Ioannidis in appearances on the Olympiakos bench: “It is important. I never imagined that in the team I love, I will reach the point where I will have close to 300 EuroLeague appearances or the best percentage. It really moves me. It is a difficult path, which requires consistency, but also a love for basketball. That’s where it all starts, just like how much you respect the team badge and the jersey. I wish that we have health, that there will be more games and that they will always be accompanied by successes, because without them it will not matter».

About Nathan Mensah: “We took Mensah to Milan, without team practice, because we wanted him to see the intensity and speed of the EuroLeague versus the G-League. We spoke with him to tell us his conclusions. He must adapt to these conditions, where every possession is important.

He showed a sample, he is long, he can mark the basket, give us things, which the other tall ones don’t give us. We have a lot of talent from Milutinov in attack, we have creation and a lot of height from Fal. If he’s a good pick-and-roll defender, a good rebounder, a rim protector, we’ll be super happy, because we’ll have a super tall trio that complements each other. This is a process that will take time, but I feel that he is happy. Everything is motivation in basketball, he soaks up every moment of it and will soon be playing much better».