Olympiacos presidents name team's goals in the 2022-23 season / News - Basketnews.com

Olympiacos's owners-presidents, Panagiotis and Giorgos Angelopoulos, commented on their team winning the Greek Super Cup title and talked about the Reds' EuroLeague ambitions.

Credit: Olympiacos BC Credit Olympiacos BC

Olympiacos Piraeus started the 2022-23 campaign in ideal fashion, winning the Greek Super Cup trophy in Rhodes. A comfortable win over Panathinaikos BC Athens in Sunday's final game sealed the Reds' first title of the season and expanded their eight-game winning streak against their main rivals.

Three domestic trophies and a EuroLeague Final Four presence in less than eight months indicate how much Olympiacos have managed to accomplish. The rise of the team coached by Giorgos Bartzokas coincided with the decision to return to the Greek league after a two-year absence.

Panagiotis and Giorgos Angelopoulos, the two brothers who have been sharing the club's ownership and the presidency for the last 18 years, have every reason to feel vindicated.

"It's great to start the season with a title. We participated for the first time in the event because we were out of the Greek league for all the known reasons. We are happy to be here now that the situation has changed," Giorgos Angelopoulos told Greek public broadcaster ERT.

The 48-year-old businessman also spoke about his first impressions of the team's current version, as Olympiacos have remained unbeaten through all their pre-season and in-season games.

But that unbeaten streak is seriously threatened when last year's EuroLeague semi-finalists will go up against FC Barcelona next Friday.

"The first indications are good. The team has started the season well, with a title against Panathinaikos. What else can one ask for?" Angelopoulos wondered.

Referring to Olympiacos' goals in the next campaign, Giorgos Angelopoulos didn't want to specify what success could look like this time around.

"We don't have to announce the goals, but we are optimistic," he said. "Olympiacos have strengthened, but what matters the most is to win the domestic titles."

"We must win in Greece. For so many years, it had been the other way around - we were winning the EuroLeague but lacking Greek trophies. Last year, we went to the Final Four, but it shouldn't be taken for granted that we will do the same this year."

Credit Olympiacos BC

Panagiotis Angelopoulos wished for Olympiacos to continue on the winning path as far as domestic titles are concerned and concurred with his brother Giorgos that the main goal is to get the championship and the Cup. What about the EuroLeague then?

A playoff berth would be enough to satisfy him.

"The goal is to get into the TOP 8," he clarified.

After a memorable EuroLeague run and an undisputed dominance within the Greek borders, Olympiacos' fans seemed to have embraced the effort put in by the management, the players, and the coaching staff. Panagiotis Angelopoulos, 49, revealed that season tickets are near 5,500.

It's a number that comes closer than anyone else in the past to the club's all-time record of 8,900 sold in the 2008-09 season.

Back then, the Greek giants had brought in Theo Papaloukas, Nikola Vujcic, and Josh Childress, the most expensive signing in the Angelopoulos era. Olympiacos had one of EuroLeague's biggest budgets but ended up 4th in the EuroLeague Final Four and second in the Greek league.

Now, the financial part is different since the budget has been reduced, but the interest in the team and its potential remain. Panagiotis Angelopoulos is hopeful that the fans will grant him one more wish.

"I'd like to see the Peace and Friendship Stadium full in all the games of the post-COVID season," he pleaded.

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