Georgios Bartzokas, head coach of Olympiacos, spoke ahead of Game 4 of the EuroLeague quarterfinals, where his team is facing Barcelona.
It’s certainly not easy for the Greek strategist after a tough loss yesterday. However, there’s no time for mourning, and the red and whites must win the next game. This was emphasized by the popular “Chess Player.”
“Morning after our tough loss. The way the game unfolded, we could have easily won. We had enough opportunities for that, but all decisions at the end, both from the opponent and ours, were somehow against us. I think we could have made better decisions in defense or scored the last shot or made one free throw or communicated better in defense to prevent Abrines’ three-pointer when we were leading by five points. We know that Barcelona is very good, very strong, talented, and very experienced team, and they will punish you for every mistake you make.
They won’t forgive you. Although the level of last night’s game was like a classic playoff game, where every possession mattered, we lost in overtime the way you saw. Now we must regroup. We have proven that we are a tough team.
We’ll see to win tomorrow and play as best as possible so that the pressure shifts to Barcelona. Right now, the pressure is on our turf, but I believe we have the team, the talent, and the mentality to go for a win tomorrow and if luck is a bit on our side because luck definitely plays a role in these things, to go and win in Barcelona,” stated Georgios Bartzokas.
Giannoulis Larentzakis also spoke ahead of this match:
“What happened in last night’s game is done. It’s over. Tomorrow, we play a very important game. We must win. We have prepared mentally, and we want to equalize the series together with our fans,” said the popular “Larry” briefly.
The fourth game is scheduled for tomorrow at 18:45. “Blaugrana” leads the series 2:1.