Georgios Bartzokas, the head coach of Olympiacos, gave an interview in which he talked about his team’s season and some players.
Olympiacos enjoyed a stellar season, highlighted by their journey to the EuroLeague Final Four, securing the Greek Cup, and finishing as the runner-up in the Greek Basket League.
Kostas Sloukas
“He was more pleased with the environment, he may have gotten more money. Obviously, he was more pleased with his role, and it’s perfectly reasonable and well done to him. I have no problem with that.
Also, I have no problem if he is mocking me. Player-coach relationships are always tested at very high tensions and pressures. I didn’t have the best relationships with all the players I worked with at times. There were, of course, players I had a very good relationship with on and off the court. There were players I loved or who loved me, but there were also players I didn’t work well with. And I think that’s perfectly normal.
People don’t fit in with everyone; that’s the way things are. So what he comments about me, it doesn’t affect me, it’s not important to my life. After all, I have never spoken badly about any player who wore the Olympiacos jersey,” Georgios Bartzokas concluded regarding Sloukas’s comments about himself in an interview with SuperBasket’s Michalis Stefanou.
Coach reveals Olympiacos’ ambitious offer for Nikola Mirotic
“Olympiacos, for the record, was one of the three or four teams that made the highest proposal to Nikola Mirotic last summer, which in terms of money was unreal. You hear the amount, and you don’t believe it. Not for Olympiacos, but generally for EuroLeague teams.
Nikola Mirotic, for his own reasons, decided at some point to return home, then changed his mind and decided to go to Milano. Let me remind you that by going to Milano, his team did not even enter the play-in.”
Georgios Bartzokas reflects on Kendrick Nunn’s decision
“Kendrick Nunn was a special story. We were the first team in Europe to be interested in him. My assistant, Giorgos Bozikas, went to Vegas and saw him at an individual workout arranged by his representatives, along with some other players. If I’m not mistaken, he had already spoken to him. We were in consultation with his representatives.
He was a player who had never been out of the US and generally wanted to stay there, but we were told that if he really went out to Europe, his choice would be Olympiacos.
Then, during the course of the year, we made another offer. When his representatives told us that he had finally decided to play in Europe, we proposed again along with three or four other teams. If I’m not mistaken, it was Partizan, Panathinaikos, us, and Milano. We even had a conversation with the player.
In essence, his representatives told us that the decision was not about money. His decision had to do with the fact that Sani Becirovic, as a Slovenian, is friends with Goran Dragic, who was Nunn’s teammate in Miami Heat, and they had workouts together. He told him clearly to go to Panathinaikos.
This personal relationship, this connection, played a very important role. That is at least what his representatives told us since Nunn himself had no idea what Europe meant. Unless he was impressed by my friend Ergin’s English language skills and made the decision for that reason,” Georgios Bartzokas concluded.
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