Bartzokas: «We need to forget about this game»

Missed free throws, too many turnovers and missed lay-ups, were, according to the Olympiacos’ coach, the reasons for losing to Monaco.

“Congratulations to Monaco. It was a closed game, just like we had expected it to be. Tonight, we have had quite a few players that were not having a good night, as they should have in such a demanding game. It’s obvious from the free throws we missed, a total of nine in such a close game, that was decided by a decisions, a defense, an attack… We also missed many lay-ups, we even missed a dunk. We should have played better. Monaco’s defense in the third quarter changed the outlook of the game. We made a lot of turnovers. Fifteen mistakes in games of that kind are always critical. However, that’s the Euroleague. We must forget about tonight’s game and focus on the one against Bologna. Good luck to Monaco”.

When asked to be more specific about what the culprits for the loss had been, he said: “They upped their physicality in defense, but I think that we were always trying to find the mis-match and stopped moving the ball and playing our game. That’s my analysis at this time, but I haven’t watched the video of the game yet. We had to protect the ball and control our emotions. We made so many turnovers, some of them unforced and we paid for it”.