Olympiacos defeated AEK 93-80 and advanced to the Stoiximan Super Cup final, but Giorgos Bartzokas was not satisfied with his team’s performance.

During the press conference, the “Red-and-Whites’” coach focused particularly on the mistakes his team made, which allowed AEK to score easy points on the fast break.

In fact, he emphasized that the performance of certain players revealed a lack of seriousness, making it clear that the lack of preparation time cannot serve as an excuse.

Here is what he said in detail:

“My condolences to the family of Souli Markopoulos; the entire basketball community is mourning a very significant loss.”

On the game: “We

made a lot of mistakes, which gave AEK opportunities on the fast break. I’m not at all pleased; it shows that some players weren’t taking this seriously. The excuse that we didn’t have enough time doesn’t hold up, because this is the reality and we have to adapt.”

On Olympiacos’ intention to play fast:

“Playing faster means we’ve brought in players who are capable of doing so. Being good at 5-on-5 requires chemistry, but quite a few players have changed. Modern basketball demands that you play fast; we have players capable of scoring, and today we scored a lot of points despite the many turnovers and even though our shooting wasn’t particularly good. It’s normal to make more mistakes, but we’ll try to improve that. We want to play fast—both in the half-court and in transition.”

On the empty arena:

“I don’t feel good about it; I’d like to see a full stadium, too, so I don’t have to hear myself talking on the bench. There’s nothing I can do about it—it’s not my call.”

*photo source: KYPE