Georgios Bartzokas, head coach of Olympiacos, spoke before the Game 3 of the EuroLeague quarterfinals, where his team will face Barcelona.
Olympiacos did exactly what they intended to do in Barcelona. They secured a break in the first game, and now they will decide their potential Final Four placement on their home court.
“I believe that our fans will give us big boost. Everybody talks about how important the home advantage is. That’s what we all fought for during the regular season. We did not secure it in the regular season, but somehow, we did it now. We are privileged to have it, as Barcelona was privileged in the two previous games.
But we are not looking far away. We are focused on tomorrow’s game and we will be ready to fight for every possession. We must be solid offensively and defensively, follow our plan and it’s also very important to control our emotions. Papanikolaou rejoined team practices yesterday. He lacked some strength. He will not need to play 30 minutes, obviously, but he will be available. I think he will be able to help us,” said Georgios Bartzokas.
Olympiacos player, Nikola Milutinov, also shared his expectations ahead of this game.
“In the first game we fought more, we hustled more. In the second game, I do not know if we were tired and that was the reason, but we did not hustle as we did in the first game. So, in front of our fans, in full gym and with their great support we have to play even better than the first game we won, and give our everything to get the win.”