Sfairopoulos: «Let’s go for the final sprint»
The Olympiacos’ coach, Giannis Sfairopoulos, held a Press Conference in view of tomorrow’s game against Barcelona (15/03, 20.00 CET) at the SEF and expressed his wish that his players … step on the gas pedal!
“First of all, I would like to express our sincerest thanks to all those that have reached out to support us in our hour of grief”, the red’s coach said and continued talking about the game against the Spaniards. “We have a tough mission. Barcelona is different after changing their coach. They have mainly changed their psychology, especially after winning the Copa Del Rey. Our opponent has changed a lot of their game style, mainly in regard to the execution speed. Barcelona plays very fast both on the open court and at set game. We shouldn’t be disoriented by the 2 or 3 absentees. The Spanish team has a lot of players that are focused and do all they have to on both ends of the floor. We have left five games to play till the end of the Regular season and they are all very important. We need to run the final sprint at the point we are right now. I have said that the Euroleague is a Marathon, however, even during a Marathon, the last meters are a sprint run. So, we need to step up and run faster..”
Talking about the fact that the Barcelona team has no ranking motivation, since they have no chance of qualifying, he stressed: “Teams that play more freely right now, without any pressure about the result, are easier to surprise you. I shoot under no pressure and get to score from 9 meters distance for instance.. Barcelona has a lot of guards that have stepped up. They play with a lot of pick n’ rolls. We need to stop both the guards and the big players. We need to defend well individually and as a team, to cover for penetrations either with the ball or with a pass”.
On whether Spanoulis, Roberts and Brown got to be on the floor for quite some time in the game against Rethymno, he commented “We were missing Papanikolaou, so we had the chance to try shorter line ups. However, they are players capable of playing together. This line up worked for us. It’s one that is difficult to defend against. They handle the ball well, they score and they create. If you let anyone unguarded, they are ready to execute… Of course everything depends on how the game is evolving. Sometimes you have to use a taller line up. I have a deep roster in my hands, so I can use whoever I feel I need at any particular moment for my team to get the result”.
Finally, asked on whether there is a calendar schedule on the team’s physical shape, he said: “It’ not only a tactical plan to have a player at their best physical shape, it’s also ergo physiology and a lot of other parameters that can impact their performance. It’s not easy to achieve to have the whole of the team at its peak at any particular moment. Individual sports are very different to team ones. Great wear and tear are only logical to get you out of shape. We try for a consistent tempo and for the team to be at the best shape possible towards the end. However, when you have injuries to cope with, you cannot achieve that. There are many factors that can create a bad momentum. That happened with us in January and it was not intended. We have been rather consistent from the beginning, if you take out that period of time. This cannot be completely controlled by either the coach or the team”.
Pap out
Our team is going to be playing without Kostas Papanikolaou against the Catalans. The 28year old forward suffers from tendonitis in his right knee.
«Focused on getting the advantage»
Jamel McLean stressed about the game against Barca: “We know that they will be coming here aiming to continue playing hard and change the status of the top ranking seeds. We need to remain focused and finish the game in the best possible fashion, so as to win the home court advantage for the next round’.
Asked about the strength of the Spanish team in the post, he commented: “They have big sizes, but we also have very athletic big players. So, we are going to try and use this advantage of ours, just like they are going to be trying to exploit their height against us”.
Olympiacos had lost big in Barcelona in the first round, a defeat that according to the American center taught a lot to him and his team mates: “They had started the game very strong and gotten into rhythm quickly, a rhythm we never succeeded in taming. We know that, we know that we need to begin strong and put a break on their tempo. They are a fast team and we need to stop them and play our game. We need to be very aggressive throughout”.
Asked on how the situation is now that the team does not have to cope with injuries, he replied: “We are lucky enough to have been winning despite the injuries. We have a deep bench and we can be playing well even when one or two players are missing”.
Finally, when asked to comment on the presence of Kim Tillie and Bobby Brown, he said: “Having Kim in the post is definitely a very positive thing. You have seen his levels of energy, he scores, he’s very active in the defense. Also, Bobby Brown gives us a different perspective in the perimeter. He’s aggressive with the ball and gives us energy. Both of them give energy and have been really helping us during recent games”.
«Victory for the coach»
Ioannis Papapetrou commented on his part: “They are a very dangerous team regardless of how they rank. Their tempo, their pressure in the defense, as well as their speed in the fast break are key elements. We need to control the tempo mainly with our offense. We need to control our turnovers, our choices. From that point on, we need to remain very tough in our defense and always use our bodies to break their rhythm”.
On the absence of Kostas Papanikolaou and the extra burden this will be putting on his shoulders due to his position, he said: “The whole team is going to be playing for Kostas. It’s only natural that I will have most of the responsibility to cover for him, but the team as a whole will try its best to cover for his absence. We need the victory regardless of who’s playing or not”.
When asked to comment on the fact that the team now has more solutions, he pointed out that “the roster is now full. When we are healthy, we know that there are going to be resting moments for everyone. Everyone has their role and it’s obvious. The season is very long and it may be that the fans don’t understand his, but there is fatigue and it’s more apparent towards the end. Now that we have entered the final stretch and the most crucial games are ahead of us, we need to be all fresh and ready to give the best we can”.
On whether they want to win to dedicate the victory to Giannis Sfairopoulos, who lost his father a few days ago, he replied: “Of course… We want to express our condolences to the coach from the court as well… May he and his family are well. We are all impacted by what happened, but we need to continue as a team. We want to play for the coach as well and dedicate him the win”.