By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Olympiacos Piraeus got a quite stressful win over EuroLeague straggler ALBA Berlin and coach Giorgos Bartzokas used the game as an opportunity to once again emphasize on the fact that there are no “easy” matches in the competition.
“I’m getting boring to say some times the same in the interview before the game: There are no easy games in the EuroLeague,” Barzokas said in the post-game presser. “Barcelona lost to Virtus, Zalgiris lost to ASVEL. This is a marathon and you have to win games.”
“There’s no easy second round. Was the first round easy? EuroLeague is difficult either way,” Bartzokas later added when asked if the second leg of the regular season could be easier for Olympiacos after a tough first leg with injury problems. “Every game is difficult, at home or on the road. ALBA made some tough shots because they play without pressure.”
“As you know, every team that ALBA beats fires their coach.” Bartzokas mentioned. “Because everyone thinks that this is a game that you should definitely win. There’s no such thing though in the EuroLeague.”
He then elaborated on what what makes ALBA tricky team to play against. “They have five players on the floor shooting the ball. Trevion Williams, did it tonight. They play in a steady tempo with the same coach for many years. Between us, they have no pressure to win or lose because they don’t compete for the playoffs. We should’ve been better, especially defensively and we should’ve been more physical. Take the game more seriously.”
ALBA was up 85 – 82 with 1:27 to play. Evan Fournier then made back-to-back buckets for Olympiacos and Sasha Vezenkov added free throws to push the Reds to the win.
Bartzokas also wished a speedy recovery to Panathinaikos Athens center Mathias Lessort. “My best wishes to Mathias Lessort to come back stronger. It’s something that hurts everybody that’s involved in sports.”