With Tyler Dorsey’s suspension nearing its end (Nov. 15), Giorgos Bartzokas was asked at media day whether the Greek-American shooting guard would be activated again by Olympiacos.
“I don’t know; it’s not something I can say. Right now, we’re here for a very demanding game. Dorsey won’t be with the team tomorrow. Everything in its own time. It’s not that I don’t want to talk, but it’s better to focus on tomorrow’s game with the roster we have, and then we’ll analyze the other issues,” he emphasized.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Ceferin to attend the Celje-Olympiacos match
As for the effort to sign a guard, he said: “The market is limited; good players don’t leave their teams. There’s a combination of factors we’re considering. If you bring in a player from the U.S., he’ll need time to adjust; if you want one from Europe, it’s not easy for a good player to leave his team. At Olympiacos, the level of our team is so high—both in terms of expectations and the standard of play—that it’s not easy for a player to come in and make an immediate impact. He has to be a very good player,” he emphasized.
Regarding tomorrow’s game against Dubai BC, he said: “We want to improve our playmaking and execution. Against Red Star, we played haphazardly, not in an organized manner. That’s our main concern.”
When asked whether he believes that the SUNEL Arena—which isn’t Olympiacos’s home court—affects his team’s shooting percentages, he said: “I believe it has to do with the opponent—specifically, the lineup we had when we played that particular opponent. Having lost some players recently, our team is facing some issues with balance and chemistry, which I think are improving day by day. We’ll get better at executing our plays. It’s purely coincidental and has nothing to do with the arena.”
Regarding the hard-fought victory in Marousi, he said: “Olympiacos is a club that wins an away game—obviously without playing well—and there’s discussion in the media about what we’re not doing right. We have to adapt to that. The Greek league is very competitive this year, but I don’t think this game was a wake-up call. In some games we’ll play well and in others we won’t. I don’t think it should be a cause for concern.”
When asked if he had time to train, he replied: “The day off is mandatory under the players’ union regulations. So the three days between games are effectively two. It all comes down to having a lot of games, which is very appealing to the fans and sponsors, but it cuts into the team’s preparation time. This applies to all teams. There’s nothing we can do about it; all we can do is get better.”
Finally, regarding Nikola Vučević’s praise for him, he said: “I don’t know the young man personally. I’m flattered, but I want us to focus more on Olympiacos and not on me.”
