EuroLeague, Olympiacos towards the Final Four: the words of coach Bartzokas and Papanikolaou
Olympiacos towards the 2024 EuroLeague Final Four, the words of coach Bartzokas and his captain Papanikolaou in the press conference
Olympiacos spoke through their coaches Georgios Bartzokas and Kostas Papanikolaou immediately after Real Madrid’s press conference. These are the words of the representatives of the red and white team.
Georgios Bartzokas on Olympiacos’ motivation: “We are super motivated just to be here in the Final Four, with the four best teams in the EuroLeague this year and to have the opportunity to be here. We’re not thinking about what happened last year, we’re going to give it our all as a club and as a team. We are fighters”.
On team continuity: “The most important thing for us is to be on the same page. We lost two of our most important players last year, but the club is still here. We have to be humble, motivated and unified to play our basketball. I’m happy that we made it, that we made it”.
On the cruel ending of the last EuroLeague Finals: “We haven’t seen the video of Sergio Llull’s buzzer-beater. If you ask me, I would tell my players not to give him a chance to dribble and shoot with his right hand. Even though we knew it, he did it, he managed to beat us. It was a viral video that everyone saw this year, that basket by Sergio. We have to focus on the important things”.
On the first Final Four of his career, when he coached Lokomotiv Kuban. “We were Cinderellas with Loko. We played the champion CSKA Moscow in the semifinals, and the first appearance is always very strange. It takes more than one time to win the trophy, it’s very difficult for a newcomer. It is not impossible, but it is very difficult”.
Papanikolaou on the attitude of his team: “Everyone has to focus on basketball, it’s hard when you try to do more than what you have. We have to enjoy the Final Four experience. We have a group of guys that stick together, we are not afraid to play anybody. Before we got to Game 5 against Barcelona, that was the best practice of the whole season. The same goes for us: everyone is focused”.
On Panathinaikos and Olympiacos participating in the Final Four: “I think it’s really important and significant for Greek basketball, it’s good for the young guys to be involved”.
On Sloukas: “Everyone will fight for their team and have fun. It’s about sports, that’s what we focus on.If life pits us against each other, it’s sports: that’s the beauty for me”.