By Stefanos Tatsios / info@eurohoops.net
AS Monaco is headed to its first-ever EuroLeague playoffs series against Olympiacos Piraeus with Game 1 underway Wednesday (April 20, 20:00 CET). Head coach Sasa Obradovic spoke during media availability Tuesday about Monaco’s hunger, Olympiacos’ experience, and his respect for Georgios Bartzokas.
“They are incredibly tough at home but not as much on the road”, Obradovic told reporters. “If I’m not mistaken they’ve only lost to Crvena Zvezda and Panathinaikos at home. A team that dominates at home and reaches the second place in the EuroLeague standings has had an incredible season. We hope to remain competitive until the end”.
“There are players like Sloukas, Printezis, and Papanikolaou that have well-known quality and experience. On the other hand, there are also new faces like Dorsey, McKissic, and Fall, but the biggest threat is the fans, their sixth player”
Monaco has reached the playoffs in their inaugural EuroLeague campaign. Although this is a big feat on its own, coach Obradovic is still expecting more.
“You have to always be “hungry” and have big goals”, he said. “I think that above all, we showed that we belong here [in the playoffs] and even with Russian teams [allowed to play] we would be here. You have to stay “hungry” and I think that’s always the key”.
Concluding, Obradovic recalled facing Bartzokas in the VTB League. “I have big respect for coach Barzokas, we have faced each other many times in Russia, I’m sure he can prepare some new things, but at this point, I don’t think there’s much room for that. In the end, what will matter the most is who will be more aggressive and intense”.
Monaco forward Alpha Diallo highlighted the keys to delivering another upset to the Greek side, following a blowout victory in Round 31 at home. “Olympiacos is a very tough team, they play together, and we will try out best and give our 100%,” he said. “The regular-season game is always a different story. We played great defense for 40 minutes, we wanted to defend our homecourt. Now we want the same; play good defense and bring this momentum into our offense.”