Bartzokas and Papanikolaou talk about Partizan

The Olympiacos head coach, Giorgos Bartzokas, spoke about the game readiness of Nigel Williams-Goss and newly signed Saben Lee, among other topics, during the Media Day ahead of the upcoming game against Partizan (March 7, 20:15 CET), while Kostas Papanikolaou focused on the milestone of the club’s 100th anniversary.

When asked about the team's 'medical report', Bartzokas mentioned: "Goss did individual training yesterday and today will join the team practice. We hope he's fine and ready to play. For the others, there are no updates. As for Lee, he’s in good physical condition and will definitely be in the 12-man roster. We hope he can play and help us."

Regarding the game against Partizan and its unique aspects, he emphasized: "Partizan is the team with the most steals. They are active with their hands, protect their basket, and generally play aggressive defense. We need to do better at what we didn’t in the last 5 minutes of the first game. Of course, we went there without Vezenkov, and with Fournier sick, it was a special situation. We had a season low in many things, like scoring, shooting percentages, and assists. Now we need to do the opposite. We must play faster, pass more, and execute better. In the first game, we had 21% with threes, if I remember correctly. When they give you the space, you need to execute better. Overall, we need to play a good game against an opponent fighting to make the playoffs, with good chances, in my opinion. We need to be ready because every game is crucial."

On his part, Olympiacos captain Kostas Papanikolaou spoke about the upcoming (March 7) game against Partizan: "It’s a team that likes to apply pressure on the opponent and disrupt your comfort zone, the things you enjoy doing. They use their hands very well and protect the paint, forcing you to find other options. We need to have a clear mind, maintain proper spacing, and create imbalances to take them out of their rhythm and give ourselves opportunities for easy baskets. All of this, of course, starts with defense, where we need to be solid so we can find points in transition."

Regarding the club’s 100th anniversary: "This is a very important season for the whole club, not just basketball. Many events and beautiful things are coming, but we must focus on the court and the work we have to do there. However, I am sure that the organization will do everything possible to please the fans and honor this very important year for the entire club."