Bartzokas on Olympiacos fans' change: 'They used to put more pressure than push forward' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Euroleague Basketball via GettyImages Credit Euroleague Basketball via GettyImages

For the first time after his team qualified for the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in Belgrade,Georgios Bartzokasspoke to the media.

Free throws this season

76%13,8Points made:13,8Accuracy:75,8%Place in standings:3Record max:27Record min:5Most made FTs:Konstantinos SloukasTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

He sat down with Gazzetta.gr and touched on different topics, including EuroLeague F4, Olympiacos Piraeus fans' culture, the expiring contract, and more.

According to the 56-year-old Greek specialist, he set the highest goals for the 2021-22 season and it has worked out pretty good so far.

"This is my view. When you enter a competition, you always have to look at the highest step. You need to set big goals, even if they are short-term. You can not be satisfied with few.

I am absolutely happy because, during the season, when the team seemed to be shaking, it always had an answer. I believed in my squad from the beginning, but the belief grew stronger inside me due to the reaction of the team," Bartzokas said.

The Final Four in Belgrade will be his third EuroLeague F4 throughout Bartzokas' career, after his appearances in 2013 and 2016. As stated by the head coach, it doesn't reduce the nervousness before ultimate matches in the strongest continental competition.

"Age, experience, and seen difficulties don't make you less anxious. Growing up, you have a greater sense of responsibility. What you have to do is manage pressure and stress and sometimes the routine helps to achieve it. Moreover, if the whole organization manages to create a very good team, it gives you confidence that the squad will respond.

We aren't favorites. Our team's budget is 4-5 times smaller than other teams. But we all know that Olympiacos is something different. There are demands and expectations. About 8-10 thousand people are expected to come with us. All of them don't come to see you play a friendly game, but to watch you fight. I promise that we will give 100%."

Asked about the pressure from his players, Georgios Bartzokas opened up about this difficult process, which has to be managed in some way.

"There is no recipe. It's the human factor, as you are dealing with different characters. Everyone wants different management and I'm learning. The environment also helps me. I mean, they tell me that X player now needs a conversation, while I probably did not understand it earlier.

It's important to make the player feel self-confident and, of course, I don't agree at all with those, who say that I take responsibility for a defeat. What does this mean: if you take responsibility, you must resign.

You have to make the player understand that you are next to him and support him. Of course, you have to collide sometimes. It's not pleasant, but it is necessary. If you do not collide, it's a problem. The ego is big, you need to do it sometimes. I don't like to upset people at all, but you have to do it," the EuroLeague champion (2013) admitted.

Bartzokas also talked about the fans. He is happy that they improved over the years and are much more on the side of the team.

"Knowing very well the Olympiacos fans' culture and high expectations they have, I tried to build a team that people will like, as much as it sounds arrogant. Of course, a winning team, because at Olympiacos, victories count. People love this squad because they see that players sacrifice for each other and enjoy wearing this jersey.

We felt the fans' help this year and it's not a cliché. The culture of our team's fans has improved a lot compared to my previous tenure here. They used to put more pressure than push forward. After 10-12 years, Oly have basketball supporters, who are much more supportive even in the bad times.

When we lost by 20 points in Game 2 against AS Monaco, the whole stadium backed us up. I couldn't believe it, knowing the previous situation, where there was whining because we weren't 10-0 ahead in the first minute," Olympiacos' bench boss stressed.

Last but not least, Bartzokas had some words to say regarding the expiring deal with Olympiacos. His contract is set to finish at the end of the 2021-22 season.

"It doesn't matter if I am in the team; whether I will renew a deal or not. It's important to do everything possible until the summer. For me, there are no multi-year contracts, there is only tomorrow," Georgios Bartzokas concluded.

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