Bartzokas addresses match-up with Efes: 'I can promise that we will be ready to compete' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Olympiacos BC Credit Olympiacos BC

Olympiacos Piraeus had to go through a five-game ordeal to bring downAS Monacoand get the remaining ticket to the 2022 EuroLeague Final Four, adding another high note to their season.

Player of the Game EFF 24 Shaquielle McKissic Points 18 Accuracy 6-7 Rebounds 2 Assists 2

The Reds had to bounce back from an 11-point deficit in the second quarter to get a hard-fought 94-88 win in Game 5 in front of 12.000 high-spirited fans.

The Greek side made it to their eleventh Final Four overall and first since 2017. Anadolu Efes Istanbul will be their opponent in the semi-final in Belgrade.

Giorgos Bartzokas claimed that nothing was easy for his team and promised that Olympiacos will strive to compete against the reigning champs.

"We are talking about the EuroLeague champions, a team that has been at the top for the last 4 years," Bartzokas said in the post-game presser. "I have great respect for Efes and coach Ataman, but I can promise that we will be ready to compete in the semi-final."

"I could not say a word to our players about our Final Four opponent before Game 5. We have three more games left to play in the Greek League, and then we have some days to prepare for the Final Four," Bartzokas continued.

"The important thing is to stay healthy. You never know. We missed Hassan Martin a lot in the series, and we hope that we are all together to be a strong opponent for any team."

With Monaco posing a real challenge to Olympiacos in an extremely competitive series, Bartzokas recalled the 2013 playoffs, when -still in his first stint with the team- his side managed to overcome Efes in a five-game series before being crowned back-to-back EuroLeague champs.

"What I had in the back of my mind is that I would like to go to a Final Four again," he admitted.

3-pointers this season

37%8,5Points made:8,5Accuracy:36,9%Place in standings:11Record max:13Record min:3Most made 3FGs:Mike JamesTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

"For Olympiacos, there is nothing easy. In 2013, Efes were leading by 14 points at halftime. Nothing is easy in life. If it's easy, it's given to you, and it's not real."

Asked whether this series was a good crash test in view of Efes, the 56-year-old admitted that Efes have an excellent team and excellent backcourt.

"All their players are very good, and they are in a very good momentum."

Talking about Monaco, Bartzokas conceded that they forced Olympiacos to play to their limits.

"The most important moment was when we lost by 20 points here (in Game 2), and fans applauded us," he repeated once again.

"They understood that we are a team that plays together, that we're fighters. That helped us reclaim the home-court advantage. In the 4th game, we wasted four possessions at the end, and then we had to play 40 minutes with a big 'must' hanging over our heads.

For us, it would be great sadness and disappointment had we lost. That shows our mental strength because it was a game that didn't go well initially. We all managed to win together," Bartzokas said.

Bartzokas thinks that the fact that Olympiacos made the playoffs is a great feat.

"We deserved to be in the Final Four. It was a tough series. We had to control our emotions during the match. We've talked enough. From the moment we were down by 7 points at half-time, and since Monaco shot 8/8 three-pointers with Lee and Ouattara, we believed that we would dominate with our defense and find solutions. In today's game, the players and fans were the ones who spoke," the Greek coach noted.

As the hosts were trailing for almost the entire game, mainly because Monaco always found a way to respond to their comeback attempts, Bartzokas felt the need to encourage his players in the locker room ahead of the second half.

"When players were terribly stressed, we went to hasty decisions. All I wanted was to be supportive of them. I mentioned some technical stuff," he revealed.

"We had players who made good decisions. Walkup helped us tremendously; McKissic in the first half; Dorsey scored a crucial 3-pointer, and Sloukas was decisive. The team's DNA shows that we are tough."

Thomas Walkup was more than happy to see Olympiacos in the Final 4.

"I feel great! It was an incredible night for us," the 30-year-old guard told Greek broadcaster NOVASPORTS.

"I'm proud to be part of this team. We saw the passion of the fans, we experienced it, we felt it".

Walkup, who's going to participate in his first Final Four ever, thinks that his team's accomplishment is something special, adding that "you have to enjoy such great moments."

"We've experienced beautiful things together; it's awesome," he stressed.

"We have reached one of our goals, and we will see what happens in Belgrade. We are very happy."

On the other hand, for team captain Giorgos Printezis, this will be his sixth and probably last Final Four.

"The feeling is very beautiful, I think we deserved it," the 36-year-old forward initially said to NOVASPORTS.

"It was a long season. Thank God we were all healthy for most of the year. It is very important for the team, the fans, and Greek basketball to be in the Final Four. If you look at it more closely, the years that preceded it were not our best.

In 2018 we were unlucky, and then we had a problem- we stopped playing in the Greek League and lost our rhythm," Printezis conceded.

The Greek international thinks that the team will always exist as long as the presidents support and renew it.

"As Milan Tomic has said, Olympiacos will never die! We have to go to Belgrade with a big smile and enjoy it. We'll have a lot of fans on our side. Today we had some pressure but managed to overcome it," he concluded.

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