Sfairopoulos: «We’re going to Moscow to fight»
Olympiacos left today (20/03) for Moscow, where tomorrow they play against CSKA (21/03, 18.00 CET) for the 27th day of the Euroleague.Kostas Papanikolaou (injury) and Vangelis Mantzaris (flu) did not travel with the team.
“We play against the top seed, a team that is a favorite to make the Final Four, a team that has been consistently qualifying to the Final Four”, the ‘reds’ coach, Giannis Sfairopoulos commented and went on to say: “So our mission is very tough and it becomes even more difficult due to the absence of two key players, Kostas Papanikolaou and Vangelis Mantzaris. They are players who have played many games of that level and we are unfortunately missing them. Nevertheless, we are going there to play our game and fight. We know who stands against us. We need to remain focused. We have some goals for this game for both ends of the floor. It’s a matter of concentration and faith to our plan, so that we can fulfill these goals. We want to remain in the game and fight for the best we can get”.
Asked on the shape the Russian team is, he replied: “They are at a very good point. They have left their bad phase behind. They have won four games in a row, they have won 9 out of their last 10 games. They did not play for the Russian League this last weekend, so they have rested for these back to back games. Russia has the luxury of not scheduling games, so they have this advantage and they are going to be fresher and rested. We know our capabilities, we respect CSKA and we are going to fight”.
Finally, on whether Olympiacos is going to try and pick an opponent for the Euroleague play-offs, he made clear that: “We don’t pick who we play against. We always play to win. We have four games left and we are going to try and win all four of them. From there on, whatever will be will. I have never done this as a coach, neither has Olympiacos done this as a team. Every time we have witnessed a team picking their opponent, it comes back to bite them. Anyway, Olympiacos is a team that is always playing to win. We many not make it, but this is our goal, to fight for the victory in all of these four games. We’ll see where we stand at the end. The most important thing for me is to win the home court advantage. It hasn’t been decided yet. We rank very high for months now and we are at the final stretch of this marathon that we have been running. We need to give it all to rank as high as we can, so that we secure home court advantage”.
«It’s going to be a battle»
Kim Tillie said about the game: “It’s going to be a very hard game. CSKA has been having a very good season. They are a very solid team with a full roster. We are definitely going there to win, but it’s only sure it’s going to be a battle. Defense is our weapon, so we need to focus on rebounding and playing strong defense. I think it’s going to be a close game”.
He did not get to play in the game against Kolossos so as to rest, given the minor injury he had suffered the day before. “It wasn’t something serious. I’m fine and ready to help the team”, he pointed out.