By Dimitris Minaretzis / info@eurohoops.net
In the EuroLeague Round 7, Olympiacos will host Baskonia on November 9 at 18:15 CET, and Georgios Bartzokas commented on his team being on the market before facing the Basque team.
“Let me tell you how things are. We are always open to the market. We had agreed with the presidents, in addition to the effort made in the summer, to make some transfers with exorbitant amounts. Olympiacos offered some players amounts that were beyond reason, which I am against these amounts because in a team there are also balances. For some reason, these transfers did not take place”, he commented, possibly hinting at Kendrick Nunn’s decision to join Panathinaikos.
He went on to explain the red-and-white team’s necessity to add players. “Basically we are in the market because of the many misfortunes and injuries we have had this year. We are in the market to add, but we will only do so with a player we believe will help us. The fact that we’ve had so many injuries has affected us, but let’s look at the whole squad together to fully assess them. We are close to doing that. And because we’re in the market, we’re likely to make a move once we believe that whoever comes in will really help us”, Georgios Bartzokas added.
The Greek head coach also commented on the injuries of Shaquielle McKissic and Luke Sikma. “What everyone is saying is that Olympiacos needs two players. I would like you to clarify for me if you mean two plus the two that are not playing. That is four. To give an example, in the next few days [Shaquielle] McKissic will return to training. He’s doing individual training. When [Luke] Sikma is also well, compared to last year, we will have +1 player. That is, [Ignas] Brazdeikis. When [Shaquielle] McKissic plays we will be +2 from last year”, he provided an update.
After losing in last year’s EuroLeague Final against Real Madrid in the Zalgirio Arena of Kaunas, Olympiacos lost both Sasha Vezenkov and Kostas Sloukas in the summer, respectively to the Sacramento Kings and Panathinaikos. The Greek team is 3-3 in the EuroLeague standings.