'We're making history': Olympiacos presidents take stock of team's late-season run / News - Basketnews.com

Panagiotis and Giorgos Angelopoulos talked about Olympiacos' third straight Final Four presence, their relationship with coach Giorgos Bartzokas and the semi-final game against Real Madrid. They also took a question about the possibility of facing PAO in the final game.

Credit: Rodolfo Molina/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images Credit Rodolfo Molina/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

Olympiacos Piraeus downed FC Barcelona 63-59 in Game 5 of the playoff series and booked a ticket to the Final 4 in Berlin. It's the third straight Final Four for the Greek side and 13th overall in its history.

Player of the Game EFF 26 Nikola Milutinov Points 10 Accuracy 4-5 Rebounds 10 Assists 2

After the end of the game, the club's presidents, Giorgos and Panagiotis Angelopoulos, celebrated their team's triumph by entering the court.

"We are making history," Panagiotis Angelopoulos told NOVASPORTS.

"We feel proud and vindicated, we are going for a big battle with Real Madrid. Obviously we haven't had enough. I don't think history owes us anything. The point is to come out with a dagger between our teeth and beat Real Madrid," the Greek businessman said.

"We broke Barca's home-court advantage in Game 5, which happened today for the first time. We are not fully aware of what we have achieved. Trusting the coach is important. We had injuries, and all our players contributed to our run in the second round of the EuroLeague regular season," Angelopoulos pointed out before taking a question onwhether he would like his team to face Panathinaikos in the final.

"I will stick to the fact that we have to face Real Madrid in the semi-final," he stressed.

His brother and co-owner, Giorgos Angelopoulos, called Olympiacos' win "a tremendous achievement."

"It is a vindication of the efforts we are making for Olympiacos, in the face of adversity," he argued.

"We deserve it, we have shown incredible consistency. Some very important, top-notch players left the team, and Olympiacos remains at the top. That shows something about the club. When the results come are on your side, you can be happy."

Angelopoulos further emphasized that the front office never lost faith in the team and coach Giorgos Bartzokas, even though Οlympiacos were 9th on January 12.

"We made an amazing comeback, winning almost all the games," he recalled.

"We had faith, moves were made and whatever is required for the team was done. We have our own way, Olympiacos is a global phenomenon. We have made it to nine Final Fours under the new system, in our own way."

Giorgos Angelopoulos chose not to give a straight answer on whether he'd like to play PAO in Berlin.

"The president of Barcelona (Joan Laporta) congratulated us after the game. Rivalry is welcome, but toxicity is not," he pointed out.

"You've all seen what has happened lately. When you play a semi-final against last year's champions, you can't talk about the final game," he concluded.

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