By Antonis Stroggilakis / info@eurohoops.net
Sasha Vezenkov led Olympiacos to their first EuroLeague victory of the season, finishing the game against Zalgiris with a PIR of 30—one of the best performances in Round 2.
After the game, he shared his impressions, emphasizing that his team needs to improve, despite the victory.
“We played well for one quarter. We started impressively and shared the ball well. Zalgiris is very competitive; they beat Barcelona last week. We allowed them to grab nine offensive rebounds in the first half. We didn’t play well on offense for the rest of the game. It was a bad game. We just keep the result. We have potential, but we need to show it. We need to fight. We need to play better. The good thing is that we won again.”
As for his own performance, Vezenkov explained: “If I remember correctly, I didn’t shoot much in this game because the opposing defense was prepared. So, I had to set screens, pass, and grab rebounds. The important thing is that we won, and now we have a league game first and then two EuroLeague games this week. All teams are good and competitive. We need to keep improving.”
Later, on NOVA TV, Vezenkov also said: “I need to work on other parts of my game, like passing. Gradually, Zalgiris got into the game, especially Francisco and Sirvydis, who hit their shots. We’ll face tougher teams, so we need to be more serious. It’s generally a matter of will. We just need to go for the rebounds. There are no excuses. We need to work. We are still far from what we want to see. We need to stay focused and keep chasing our goals.“