Bartzokas: «We don’t underestimate any trophy»

Olympiacos traveled today (15/02) to Crete, where tomorrow (16/02, 17:00 CET) will play giants Peristeri aiming to qualify for the semis of the Greek Cup Final 8.

“It’s a challenge for us, just like any competition Olympiacos participates. We must try to go all the way and win, if possible”, was what the ‘red and whites’ coach, Giorgos Bartzokas stressed. “But we have nothing special to say. It has to do with the momentum of therms at this time in the season. We have our injured players coming back and we seem to be more together lately. We know our momentum is a good one and we believe that we are in a position to compete against anyone”.

Asked about the importance of this title, he replied: “We are not inclined to underestimate any trophy. Olympiacos always plays to win the most titles possible. In recent years, we have won all the national competitions we have participated, and that’s a badge of honor. We would like to repeat that. We know it’s not going to be easy. We’re gonna have to play three games. This particular format is very difficult. Teams will have to play three back to back games. This happens neither in Spain nor in Italy, or in Turkey… It is very hard and creating a difficult situation for all teams, and not just for Olympiacos”.

Τέλος, για την αναμέτρηση με το Περιστέρι, τόνισε: «Είναι σε καλή κατάσταση και αυτό έχει αποδειχθεί από τις συνεχόμενες νίκες στο ελληνικό πρωτάθλημα, αλλά και τις ευρωπαϊκές τους εμφανίσεις. Είναι μια ομάδα που παίζει σκληρά, έχει αρχές στο παιχνίδι της. Αν δεν κάνω λάθος είναι 3ο στην βαθμολογία. Οπότε με βάσει αυτό είναι η τρίτη καλύτερη ομάδα στην Ελλάδα. Με βάση αυτό δεν θα έχουμε εύκολο έργο. Θα πρέπει να προσπαθήσουμε πολύ και σε καμία περίπτωση δεν πρέπει να σκεφτόμαστε τι θα γίνει μετά από αυτό το ματς. Όπως είπα και στην συνέντευξη Τύπου, για εμάς ορίζοντας είναι το αυριανό παιχνίδι, που είναι ιδιαίτερα σημαντικό».

Finally, he said about the game against Peristeri: “They are in a very good shape, and they have proven that with their winning streak in the Basket League, as well as with their  European games. They are a team that plays hard, their game has principles. If I’m not mistaken, they rank 3rd right now. So, based on that, they are the third best team in Greece. Our mission will not be an easy one. We’ll have to try hard and under no circumstance should we be thinking about what comes after this game. Just like I said in the Press Conference, for us the horizon is tomorrow’s game”.