Bartzokas: «We were forced to play with untested line-ups»

Olympiacos fought hard but was not able to get the win at the OAKA. 

"It was a nice game, worthy of the quality of the two teams", was the initial comment by the coach of the 'red & whites', Giorgos Bartzokas. "Panathinaikos led throughout most of it, if I'm not mistaken for the full forty minutes. They played well, with confidence, like they've doing lately. They scored a lot from the start, tough, but decisive games for their psychology during the game. We balanced it out two or three times and I think that we had had the chance to win, if only Goss had made that lay-up and scored his free throw after winning a foul, that would have put us in the lead. This would put enormous pressure on them, had it happened. Unfortunately, we played with untested line-ups. Fall's absence is very important, but as you saw, Milutinov got injured as well and Petrusev fouled out. So, we were forced to play with untested line-ups. We chose a different style of defense to cover for that problem, that defense gave us things. We returned to the game, we have had the chance to win it and we must analyze what it is we could have done better. I'm impressed by the fact that in such a game, with so much contact, such intensity and physicality, Panathinaikos only committed 15 fouls and shot 31 free throws, for 14 of ours. We must also analyze the video, and see what we can do better and not foul so much. In such a closed game, that difference was decisive. Congratulations to Panathinaikos, good luck for the remainder of the season".