Bartzokas: 'At the beginning of the season, our target wasn't to have home-court advantage in playoffs' / News - Basketnews.com

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After a strong fourth quarter, Olympiacos Piraeus (16-8) secured an important win against Zalgiris Kaunas (7-17) and strengthened their position in the Top 4 of the standings. Head coach Giorgos Bartzokas was happy about the win and emphasized the strength of every opponent.

Player of the Game EFF 23 Kostas Papanikolaou Points 18 Accuracy 6-10 Rebounds 5 Assists 4

"As always, a game in Kaunas is a great event with the fans supporting the team, and a team which plays with motivation and desire," Bartzokas said. "As I said before the game, Zalgiris are in great momentum, with Lauvergne back in the lineup."

"Of course, a coach like Jure Zdovc is doing a great, great job. We knew that it will be a complicated game for us because every game we play now is a must win.

We are playing with some teams which are not close to the playoffs, but they still have good players and coaches. The pressure (to win) was on us, and we needed to adjust to it. If we want to finish in a great position in the standings, we must play (well) under pressure.

At the end of the game, we found a lot of open looks. Having creativity, we played for each other both in defense and offense. We controlled the offense of Zalgiris like Lekavicius and other good shooters," Bartzokas finished his statement.

Olympiacos were crashing the boards under Zalgiris' basket, accumulating 13 offensive rebounds. Moreover, the Greek powerhouse scored 10 points from second chances in the fourth quarter.

"It's a combination of two things," Bartzokas said. "One, they decided to play switch defense at the end, and we missed a lot of shots. We finished with 30% shooting from the 3-point zone. It's a low number for us, especially for an away game. Basically, they decided to apply switch defense, and our bigs Fall and Hassan Martin, Vezenkov also did a great job."

Bartzokas was also asked about the current Olympiacos position in the standings, admitting that to see his team in fourth place is a pleasant surprise.

Moreover, Olympiacos are just one win away from clinching the spot in the playoffs. Also, if ALBA Berlin will suffer at least one loss, Olympiacos will also secure the ticket to the playoffs.

"At the beginning of the season, our target wasn't to have home-court advantage in the playoffs. We were out of the playoffs for three seasons in a row.

Our target was to play in the playoffs. In EuroLeague, you cannot see far, you need to focus on the next game.

The other perspective is deciding which games you can win and which ones you can lose, which in my opinion, is completely wrong. My philosophy is to focus on the next game; it's easier for the players. Otherwise, it's like a mountain to climb, having so many games and a difficult schedule.

We'll play Panathinaikos next, and you know how difficult of a game is. Every game is difficult," Bartzokas concluded.

Bartzokas' press conference

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