Bartzokas for Anadolu Efes – Olympiacos: “Match as final – Walkap did half practice today”

‘ For us there are no holidays” stressed, in view of his struggle at the seat of Anadolu Efes, at the beginning of the “devil week” in Euroleague. He also referred to the situation of Thomas Walkap, while describing the particular game as “final”. On Monday the Olympiacos mission travelled to Istanbul, where tomorrow (19/03/19:30) will face Anadolu Efes, as part of the 30th Euroleague race. “For us there are no holidays. We have a difficult game program,” Olympiacos coach George Bartzokas first stressed. “In my opinion about Efes the game is like a final, in an attempt to claim its entry into play in. There’s no doubt that he has a very quality rocker with talent. In the last two games she has scored an average of 107 points on her field. It is obvious that apart from the basics we must do many things well to win.” Asked whether the weight would “fall” in defense, or be divided on both sides of the field, he replied: “It has to do with how you will execute in the attack. If you turn on the rhythm too much, you’ll have to perform after a few seconds. Ephes performs in the first twelve seconds and we should react to it.” On whether after winning over Panathinaikos “healed” wounds that as that match bothered him, he commented: “Not entirely because Wakap messed up his leg playing in this game. She did half the practice today. Generally because the games are continuous the games need a maintenance in some way.” For his part, the leader, Kostas Papanikolaou, said: “Happy birthday. Happy Lent to all. That’s the plan. We have groups from many countries and they are sometimes forced to play at their own festivals, and so are we. This is the process and we must stay focused on our goal because now everything matters. We have a difficult game in Istanbul, at the headquarters of Efes where we have many years to make a double. Let this year be the year that will break because it is a victory we need very much in the face of continuity.” Asked what situation the team is in after winning the “eternal” derby, he replied: “The game with Panathinaikos is over. It’s a new week now. We’re playing against a team that has great aggressive talent. He has players who have a terrible appeal to scoring. And even though they’re not doing the best year, it doesn’t mean they don’t have the talent to hurt or kill a team. We should be very focused on the defense part, very dynamic in all aspects of the game and win the 50-50 phases. Like I said before, there’s a team fighting to get into the ten in the play in. So for them it’s a key match, as for us.”