Two teams with aspirations far higher than their current position meet in Piraeus when Olympiacos (9-8) hosts EA7 Emporio Armani Milan (7-10).
Kostas Papanikolaou, Olympiacos: 'Start the new year the best possible way'
Seasons
2 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 18 of 34
Regular Season
Olympiacos PiraeusOLY
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EA7 Emporio Armani MilanEA7
Overview
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The Italian team has bolstered its backcourt with the re-signing of Shabazz Napier, while Olympiacos could give a debut to former Milan star Naz Mitrou-Long. Milan’s run of three wins in four games has been largely based on the versatility of last week’s MVP Johannes Voigtmann and fellow big man Nicolo Melli, who has scored at least 16 points in each of the team’s three recent triumphs. After winning its last two games on the road, Olympiacos will look to build further momentum with the help of red-hot Alec Peters, who has continued to be one of this season’s top performers with 17 and 23 points in the last two games.
Georgios Bartzokas, Olympiacos head coach
"Happy New Year! We play against Milan, a team that is in a good momentum. Despite the fact that they lost in the previous game in the Italian league, and they have absences, their wins over ASVEL and [Baskonia] in their home court and Barcelona away proves that they are in a good momentum. They have experience and a great coach. They play with physicality and intensity on defense. If we make the mistake to underestimate them, it would be a disaster for us. We want to start 2024 with a win and in order to make it, we must be ready to do all the significant things that are required. We must play with intensity, fight for the 50-50 balls and follow accurately our plan."
Ettore Messina, Milan head coach
"Olympiacos is a very physical, well-organized team, which currently has the best defense in the competition. For us, it will be essential to play with great attention to details, defend well, especially on their middle pick-and-roll, and have no letdowns in intensity for the entire 40 minutes. Offensively, we will first of all have to be patient and move the ball. We know we have a roster decimated by injuries, but exactly for this reason we will have to play an intelligent game, and helping each other as we did in similar circumstances against Baskonia."
Kostas Papanikolaou, Olympiacos player
"Happy 2024! The game against Milan is going to be tough. We want to start the new year in the best possible way, with a win in our home court having on our side our fans. Milan is a solid team, very strong and plays with physicality. That’s why we must be ready, not only physically, but mentally as well. We must play with high energy in order to get the win."
Nicolo Melli, Milan player
"Olympiacos is a very experienced team, solid, well-organized and very impactful on its home court. We are missing some players, but we have shown lately that we can play good games despite the problems that we might have by playing with attention and being ready to sacrifice. In Greece, we'll try to play another good one. In order to do it, we'll have to stay together for 40 minutes and help each other both offensively and defensively."