By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
Less than twenty four hours before the Euroleague’s final, Olympiacos coach Giorgos Bartzokas talks on Eurohoops about the phychological preperation of Olympiacos before the final against Real Madrid. Friday night wasn’t as easy as it seemed cause as he says “the pressure of a Euroleague semifinal doesn’t allow you to sleep enough but it doesn’t have to do with the tension. We should feel relaxed and content with ourselves since we have reached the final”.
The Reds have a tradition before european finals -as they did in 1997 and 2012, when Ivkovic had a walk with his players in the beach of Ostia in Rome and took a bootcruise in Bosporus, respectively- to relax away from the court the day of the final. Has the newcomer Giorgos Bartzokas any similar intention? “We will decide it later. We will examine some ideas. We don’t have the chance for a practise cause our hotel is far away from the O2 Arena”.
The coach as a youngster became a fan of Olympiacos because of a relative of him who lived in London. But there are stronger reasons that he wanted to win the trophy in England: “I would like to win it cause of our presidents, our players, gor ourselves, for the work we have done so far and for our fans who should be proud for the fact that our team remains at the top. The most difficult is to reach the big events like this. Sometimes you will win, sometimes not. But if you are present, you will win it couple of times”.
Was there any game of Real Madrid, which the coached focused more on his analysis? “We watched the games against Maccabi and the semifinal against Barcelona and we have a clear vision of Real. So, it’s issue of the players’ performance and mentality”.