Olympiacos Piraeus head coach Georgios Bartzokas heads to his third Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four - and second with the Reds, which he guided to the 2013 crown.
Georgios Bartzokas, Olympiacos: 'I was sure about this team'
Interviews
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Bartzokas made history earlier this month when his team ousted AS Monaco 3-2 in the EuroLeague Playoffs, becoming the first coach to win a deciding Game 5 of a EuroLeague Playoffs series for the third time.
While the coach is ending a six-year Final Four drought, Olympiacos is making its return to the season's pinnacle event for the first time since 2017 after a season that saw the team open and finish the regular season in style. The Reds set the tone by winning 12 of their first 17 games and finished by winning eight of their last 10 to claim second place in the standings.
Then came a thrilling playoff series against Monaco, in which Olympiacos won the first, third and fifth games, including rallying from a double-digit deficit in the decider in Piraeus.
"It is always difficult", Bartzokas said with a smile. "It is never going to be easy. Never in my life, but never for sure in Olympiacos's life. Everything is tough. But if it is tough, it is difficult, you appreciate it more."
Throughout the season, including during that series, Olympiacos displayed a great team effort with multiple players ready to take leading roles. Only one player, All-EuroLeague forward Sasha Vezenkov, averaged more than 25 minutes per game and the team averaged more than 80 points per game despite no players scoring better than 13.7 points and only three players averaging in double figures. It all aligned with Bartzokas's coaching philosophy.
"Day by day, practice by practice I try to create a philosophy that we are not selfish."
"If you see my teams at times, you will see the team effort and creativity," Bartzokas explained. "Everybody is involved in the offensive game. Everybody has to share the ball. We always appreciate a guy who passes the ball more than a guy who scores."
To have a philosophy is one thing, but to successfully implement and adapt it for each new season despite some inevitable roster turnover is another. For Bartzokas, it is a constant effort.
"Day by day, practice by practice I try to create a philosophy that we are not selfish. Whoever is selfish, he goes to the corner. If someone does not care about the team, cares only about his stats, he is leaving the team. That is my perspective," he said.
But for as much he is proud of his teams and the success he's had in the past, Bartzokas will point out: "The roster here of Olympiacos this year is one of the best I ever had. Not only according to the talent but also for caring for each other."
In 2013, Bartzokas guided Olympiacos to the EuroLeague crown, one of the club's three EuroLeague titles. In 2016 he reached the Final Four with Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar, that club's only Final Four appearance, and in 2018 he led Khimki Moscow Region to the EuroLeague Playoffs, also the club's only such achievement.
In the past, Bartzokas has repeatedly succeeded and often done so almost instantly. This season with Olympiacos, however, the coach explained that the success is a result of a two-and-a-half-year process since he returned to the club.
"We needed patience because we were in the transitional period for the club," he said, referring to the status of the club's two legendary players. Vassilis Spanoulis retired and team captain Georgios Printezis is nearing the end of his career.
"We needed to bring some new kids here who fit the Olympiacos mentality," Bartzokas continued. "The fighting, playing for the team, playing for the fans. Being in the same philosophy that the philosophy of the club that you never give up, you keep on fighting."
"The roster here of Olympiacos this year is one of the best I ever had. Not only according to the talent but also for caring for each other."
This summer, Olympiacos signed Moustapha Fall, Thomas Walkup, Tyler Dorsey and Michalis Lountzis. They were added to a core of players, some of whom were added a summer earlier, including point guard and three-time EuroLeague champion Kostas Sloukas.
Each player chosen has his purpose and Bartzokas knowing the mentality he wanted was one of the keys to the Reds' success.
"I have experience from Olympiacos, it's that simple," Bartzokas said. "There is never an easy day. Whoever knows the club, knows it is something different. Fans, it is amazing how they support the club, and also they put pressure on the club to achieve things. At Olympiacos sometimes it is not easy to just win games. You need to play well, you need to sacrifice yourself for the team."
And even when the expectation rose because of the team performing well this season, Bartzokas had a way to handle it.
"I know exactly the mentality and I was trying every day not to set long-term goals, just the next practice, the next game. That was a philosophy I had to do, and I did it. To translate to everybody not to start thinking what is going to happen during the Final Four [if we make it], let's start watching the next game, the next practice. And finally, we ended up reaching the Final Four."
What separated Olympiacos from other teams this season was its consistency. They lost two consecutive games in mid-November and had a four-game losing streak in January after the team was struck with 13 COVID-19 cases. Other than those two occasions, Olympiacos never lost consecutive games.
"Whenever we had a tough loss we bounced back. We were always ready to play the next game", Bartzokas pointed out. "I am more concerned about this team after a big win, not after a big loss. I am sure we are going to be ready, going to prepare mentally and physically in the right way. I was not concerned about attitude."
One can easily assign the credit for that bounce-back ability to Bartzokas. He went on a record in the past saying that for a coach "losses can feel like funerals", but also that "for a coach, it's always very important to see how a team reacts when they lose a game."
Bartzokas also admitted that he, as a coach, is more mature. Years on the sidelines and being in many different situations have helped him shape an understanding of how to navigate through the season.
"I am more concerned about this team after a big win, not after a big loss. I am sure we are going to be ready, going to prepare mentally and physically in the right way."
"We did not have many ups and downs, which are normal in a long season. It is impossible to always be at a high level, you have to admit that. It is normal to see the champions lose by 30 points. The level of intensity is fantastic in Europe, physicality is great. You cannot always be in a winning process," Bartzokas said.
"You just need to handle the situation inside the locker room, in the environment of the team. You need to be supportive, you need to have conflicts. You must do this sometimes. There are many egos in any professional basketball team, and sometimes you need conflicts, you need to be tough."
When it comes to this season, Bartzokas says his players made it easier for him.
"I am really lucky, we have great characters this year. Everybody is caring about each other. Five or six players came to my office and asked how can we help one teammate that is not feeling good right now, how can we support him?
"When I saw this, I was sure about this team and what we can achieve."
Bartzokas said that he believes the way the team went about business throughout the season, including overcoming the high-pressure Game 5 in the playoffs, can give it an advantage in Belgrade.
The series against Monaco made us better as a team. It helped us get stronger, and stick together. And I believe it was the same for Monaco, which is a better team after going through the series. We might be better in the Final Four just because of the series," Bartzokas concluded. "Now, we have to prepare our minds, and prepare ourselves tactically, physically and mentally to compete against the European champions."