Bardzokas: “Very important Papanikolaou’s mental vigor” – What he said about that Evans didn’t fight

Olympiacos had a hard time, but eventually managed to get the away win against Alba, returning to the top of the Euroleague!

At the end of the race and during the press conference, the coach of the “reds”, George Bardzokastalked about Kostas Papanikolaou, and referred to the situation of players who were absent from the game in Berlin before commenting on his choice not to fight.

“Significant victory for us, we need one more to ensure that we finish first in the standings. Something we appreciate very much, something at all easy in a truly competitive league, which many teams find it difficult to even get into the play in. The team is currently called upon to manage many absences due to injuries but we are waiting to return very soon. We have the match with Maccabi next week and then we will try to be as competitive as possible in the playoffs ».

«Όσον αφορά στο παιχνίδι, θα ήθελα να επισημάνω κάτι πολύ σημαντικό για εμάς. Our leader, Costas Papanikolaou, lost his beloved grandfather yesterday and reported nothing to anyone. He played this match, helped the team and will leave earlier in the morning to attend the funeral. Για εμάς είναι κάτι πολύ σημαντικό το ψυχικό του σθένος να παίξει το παιχνίδι. Έτσι έδειξε ξανά πόσο σημαντικός αρχηγός είναι για την ομάδα μας».

«Eίναι ένα πολύ ενδιαφέρον πρότζεκτ, με τον τρόπο που παίζει. Έχουν μία παραπάνω ασίστ από εμάς. Μου αρέσει ο τρόπος που αγωνίζεται, σε υψηλή ένταση. He just has to overcome this difficult season and return to the wins’.

Whether the difference in the aggressive harvest of Olympiacos is due to a lack of energy or the improvement of the alba: «Είναι και τα δύο. Σκοράραμε 61 πόντους και μετά προσπαθήσαμε να διαχειριστούμε το παιχνίδι. We came here with 11 players, China Evans finally didn’t fight, we didn’t want to risk, so in the end we were 10. I think the energy, the high intensity of the game didn’t help us play the game to the end the way we wanted. Το περιμέναμε όμως ότι η Άλμπα θα επιστρέψει στο ματς. We just had to rush, but we wanted to beat the match from 25 ‘, we had to be patient and pass. Όταν το κάναμε, βρήκαμε τα ανοιχτά σουτ. But you don’t play on your own, Alba played good defense in the second half, found big shots and of course he was very aggressive in aggressive rebounds ».

«Έπαιξαν όλοι μαζί. I believe that always, in my own philosophy, passing the ball is the most important thing. Δημιούργησαν πολλά ανοιχτά σουτ, κάτι που πάντα εκτιμώ. Η Άλμπα είναι καλή ομάδα, έπαιξαν πολύ καλά κόντρα σε Παναθηναϊκό, Μπασκόνια. Ίσως το μυαλό τους είναι περισσότερο στο γερμανικό πρωτάθλημα. The fact that the team is last but had 10,000 people on its side shows it is a big club. “.

“We were thinking of putting him tonight, but eventually I decided during the race to give him another week of training with the team. With the team it has only three workouts so far, so it is best to have the opportunity to do three more and be more ready to play in the next match. “.