Bartzokas: «We must play an intense game»
Olympiacos will be hosting Fenerbahce tomorrow (26/04, 20.45 CET), in a packed Peace and Friendship Stadium, for the first leg of the Euroleague playoffs, aiming to make the first step to win the ticket that leads to the Final Four.
"Whoever the opponent might have been at this time in the season, they would be a hard team to beat", the 'red & whites' coach, Giorgos Bartzokas, stressed. "As you know, in the last game of the regular season we could have picked our opponent, but we didn't do it. We are faithful to what we represent. All opponents are strong and you have to be ready to face up to the challenges that come your way".
On whether Olympiacos will be impacted by the possibility of the Turkish team missing key players, he said: "Fenerbahce has a lot of depth and they have many players that can play more than one positions. A characteristic example are Hayes and Pierre, who play a big role into their game style. We don't care about that, we cannot be guessing whether they are playing or not. We have to prepare for all possibilities and that's what we are going to do".
In terms of the 'hot' atmosphere in the gym, the coach pointed out: "These are questions for our opponents, about how they are going to respond to the situation. What do you mean by hostile atmosphere? It means that it's going to be very supportive for us, there's going to be excitement, but that's the case in every European arena. Everyone playing at this level are ready for that. These are the circumstances and you have to play. At the end of the day, we are talking about basketball, you have to execute a plan on the floor. I think the same goes for our opponents. I think that the support for us is going to play a role, mostly by giving us a boost in both the bad and the good moments of the game. Everyone is too experienced to be influenced by these things".
Asked whether the regular season games are a kind of road map in view of the playoffs, the replied: "Yes, we always take into account what the opponent has done playing against us and obviously Fenerbahce is doing the smae. We are going to isolate the things we did well and those we didn't. Of course, a playoff game has totally different circumstances and conditions. It's how each team approaches the importance of the game. There are players that like these kind of games and others that get more nervous. We want to be calm, we want to play an intense game. We know it's a big challenge to qualify for a back to back Final Four. We know it's not going to be easy. We respect our opponent a lot. In no case we underestimate the series".
Finally, he commented about the mass support received by the fans: "It's true that we are happy about it. We knew the game was going to sell out. It happens with all playoff games. The most important thing though, is that the same thing has happened many times during the regular season. And that's something we sincerely appreciate. We want excitement and support, but we should not in any case think that it's something different than a basketball game. It's Olympiacos vs Fenerbahce. Not Greece vs Turky, not Itoudis vs Bartzokas. It's a basketball game and we have to play the best we can, and both us and Fener get what we deserve".