Sfairopoulos: «Let's continue from where we left off against Real»
Olympiacos' coach, Giannis Sfairopoulos, talked about tomorrow's (22/02, 20.00 CET) game against Valencia at the SEF (for the 23rd day of the Euroleague), while also confirmed that the 'reds' are in pursuit of acquiring a perimeter player.
"We return to our Euroleague games after the loss of the Greek Cup. We want to play a good game and continue from where we left of, that is from the road victory against Real Madrid. Valencia is a good team, very aggressive. They have Green, who is a good player and scorer in general and they have a cohesive team. They miss a couple of guards, but the rest of the players have covered for their absence. We need to remain very focused on both ends of the floor to win yet another game".
Asked about the loss of the Cup and whether what went wrong was analyzed, he replied: "Of course we analyzed the final with the players. We saw what our mistakes were, that we did not play up to our standards and that we need to react. You think we haven't done that?"
On whether Olympiacos is getting a new player, he admitted… "We are definitely moving to that direction to re-enforce the team, in collaboration with the administration that is always by our side to help us. We are getting a player that is going to be able to give us this something extra when we need it. This doesn't mean that we don't think high of the rest of our players, on the contrary. We are not changing any one player, we are adding one. We need a player at the perimeter that can really help. We are not going to be getting anyone just to say that we signed somebody".
When he was asked to be more specific and talk about names of possible signees, he cleared his position: "There are no names; I cannot talk in specifics right now. Of course there are actions that are being made, that even I don't know about. I'm not conducting the negotiations; the administration is taking care of them to benefit the team. The sure thing is that negotiations are being made, people are being contacted… I repeat that we are going to be bringing a player to offer the team something extra. We want him to boost our quality. Maybe this player is going to help some others rise to the occasion or help liberate others".
Asked to comment on the stats that want Olympiacos to be playing better at home instead of on the road, he replied: "Olympiacos has won tough games on the road. We have had a bad January and a bad game, the Cup Final, in February… I have said before that a good team should be playing well both at home and away… I don't think it's so much of a home court issue… Five out of six January games had been on the road, which is not easy to deal with. Also, the momentum was bad for us during these January games… The game in Madrid against Real proved that we are competitive, just like we were before January… I don't dispute the numbers, but what does this mean? That our mission is easier when we play at home? It's not the case…" And he went on to say: "Energy is relatable to your schedule… If you get to play 4 games in seven days, it's not easy for any team to manage. More Euroleague teams have faced the same issue. Of course our home court is important and we want to protect it. We still have 8 games to play till the end of the Euroleague Regular Season, five at home and three on the road. The momentum is good and we want to protect our home court".
Like always, the pace against the Spanish team is going to be set by defense… "It's only important, because, just like a I said before, Green is a very capable shooter. They also have Abalde, who has been very productive during recent games… Pleiss, Dubljevic… Of course we need to be very careful with our defense, so that we disrupt our opponent, find offensive rhythm and go after easy scoring".
On the similarities and differences in comparison to the first round game, he said: "Valencia had not had Dubljuevic at the time and they are now going to be missing Van Rossom and Vives. We were missing Spanoulis, Mantzaris and Tillie, who are playing now. So the rosters are going to be different, but not the philosophy. The coaches are the same. They now our style of play and we know theirs…".
Kim Tillie is returning to action after a very long time (he had suffered a serious injury during the Euroleague premiere) and Giannis Sfairopoulos was asked about the readiness levels of the French forward: "It's not easy to be coming back after all that time. He's 100% physically and mentally. Of course all of that will be tested on the floor. It's not possible to expect him to perform miracles after all that time… However, he's a quality player, he knows the Euroleague very well and we had wanted him from the start… The sure thing is that he's going to need some time to find his footing but he will be certainly of help".
Giannis Sfairopoulos made history against Real Madrid, since he became the coach with the most European victories in the history of the Piraeus team. "I don't want to make any comment on that. I only want to say that I'm honored to be coaching Olympiacos".