By George Adamopoulos/ info@eurohoops.net
Overcoming injury issues and a slow start to the season, Moustapha Fall registered a triple-double in domestic action on Sunday. His efforts, including 11 assists, helped Olympiacos secure a win on the road against PAOK mateco.
During preparations for the 2023-24 editions of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and Greece’s Basket League, the French center talked to Eurohoops about his third season with the Greek club.
“As soon as we win, I will be fine. The system does not matter. Everybody needs to sacrifice to be competitive,” he described the necessary combined effort between the frontcourt and the backcourt, “If this is the way need to play to succeed, I am fine with it.”
“I just try to do my job, execute what the coach wants me to do, play as hard as possible defensively,” he replied to a question about his role in the paint, “Good things will happen.”
Nikola Milutinov, Luke Sikma, Alec Peters…
The Reds reuniting with Nikola Milutinov added depth to his position. “He is a very good big,” Fall told Eurohoops about his new teammate, “We are going to be more consistent in the center position during 40 minutes. It is going to be very good for us.”
Luke Sikma emerged as yet another newcomer for Olympiacos. “I think he is a tougher guy, more physical,” the Paris native compared him to his former teammate and current player of the Sacramento Kings, Sasha Vezenkov, “The glue guy, let’s say.”
“We need to adjust to play differently. We need to step up. For sure we lost a lot with Sasha, so we need to compensate,” he confidently set requirements for the 2023-24 roster, “I think we are going to be fine.”
Shifting to Alec Peters, he predicted a solid campaign for the Valparaiso product. “We all know Alec is a really good player. He had a good career,” he mentioned.
“He is a very very good shooter. And shooting is all about confidence,” Fall praised Peters, “When you are a good shooter and you have this confidence, more playing time makes everything easier.”
“I think it is a teamwork mentality. We have to find a new balance. We had the balance with [Kostas] Sloukas and Sasha. We just got to find a new balance,” he revealed the plan for Olympiacos.
“I don’t believe we can replace Sasha with only one player,” he confessed, “In EuroLeague, he was the MVP. It is difficult to replace the MVP.”
“We know why are here”
Since his arrival in 2021, the Reds reached the Final Four of the EuroLeague in Belgrade and Kaunas. However, they fell shy of lifting the trophy on both occasions.
“First of all, it is rare for the number one team to win the EuroLeague. In the last few years, it has not happened. Second, we just don’t underestimate nobody,” said Fall opening the discussion about the EuroLeague championship remaining the main goal for Olympiacos.
“Last year, we had the same mentality,” he continued, “It does not matter who we play. We were playing the same way, hard all the time. Nobody is getting arrogant or something. We are all disciplined. We all try to work hard. We know why we are here.”
“We are going to do all we can to be able to succeed,” added the towering center, “You need a lot of things to happen your way to be able to win the EuroLeague.”
Regarding rival Panathinaikos revamping the roster during the offseason, Fall rejected any kind of incentive.
“I don’t think we need extra motivation. We want to win, no matter what,” he said, “For sure, they are going to be more challenging than the two precedent years. The ultimate goal is to win. Not to beat Panathinaikos but to win overall. I don’t focus on Panathinaikos. I focus on what we can do and improve, and all the titles we can win.”
“There is always pressure when you play in this kind of team with this kind of fanbase. For sure, there are a lot of expectations,” he furthered, “We are all together. The staff tries to make it easy for us. We understand the situation. We want to play hard for us, the organization, and the fans. We have a lot of motivation. It is not really pressure, but we try to do the best we can.”