Georgios Bartzokas, Olympiacos: 'Everyone had to step up'

Georgios Bartzokas, Olympiacos Piraeus head coach
“Bearing in mind that we didn’t have a deep bench, playing without Kostas Sloukas, Alec Peters and George Pappas, we had 11 players. Everybody had to step up and contribute. Michalis Lountzis did a great game today, and everybody contributed to get this very important win. We are close to qualifying for the top eight and I think if we win two or three more games we will reach our first target.
“A very demanding game against the European champions, a talented team. Our defense was really solid, and if we had better percentages from free throws and open three-pointers, we could have won more easily. But anyway I give credit to the players and the fans for another great atmosphere in our home court, and good luck to Efes.”
Ergin Ataman, Anadolu Efes Istanbul head coach
“For three quarters we didn’t play well. In the last quarter, we played aggressive defense and tried to come back. But [Sasha] Vezenkov made a great game and found some very difficult shots. Offensively we didn’t find a solution except Rodrigue Beaubois. Olympiacos maybe didn’t play a very good game but they deserved to win, congratulations.
“I suffered on the bench to watch this basketball. I think that many people, even the Greek people from Olympiacos, suffered, because tonight the basketball was terrible. But I’d like to give big congratulations to [Michalis] Lountzis. So far, he played with a 1 point average and many times he didn’t make the roster. Tonight, without [Kostas] Sloukas, he made a great job, and of course Vezenkov in the second half found some difficult shots. On our side, it’s very difficult to understand that every game, and also tonight, we started with 8-0 after two minutes. We didn’t start the game with good concentration and good emotions. We played terrible, but in the second, third and fourth quarters, we led the game by 3 points. But in the first quarter, we played terrible. Offensively, it was a terrible night for us. I’d only like to congratulate my team for the last quarter – after a 15 points difference, they didn’t give up and tried to come back, with defense and the young player, Erten Gazi, who put energy. But we didn’t find anything from our star players offensively. Everybody is saying we have very good offensive players, but these star players we need in these games. Not in Turkish League games against a weak team. I’m talking about Will Clyburn and Vasilije Micic. We need these star players to find scoring in this game. Our situation is not good right now in the EuroLeague.”
Sasha Vezenkov, Olympiacos Piraeus forward
“I’m really exhausted, but I will not talk about myself or the game. I will talk about Mike Lountzis, what he did today and what he’s doing lately to step into the shoes of, for me, the best pure point guard in Europe right now. To go and play the minutes of Kostas Sloukas is really tough, but he’s always ready and I think this is the most important thing for the victory. When your 12th player, let’s say, is ready to play the game, I think that’s the most important thing. I want to congratulate all the players, all the staff. It was a tough game, Efes is a really talented team. I talked way more than I have to but I’m really happy so congrats to all the team.”
Michalis Lountzis, Olympiacos Piraeus guard
“I want to focus on the win. It was a very tough match against the champions. We knew it would be tough and that they would come back, as they did, but we’re very happy. We’re very energetic, the crowd was amazing, the atmosphere was amazing, we’re really happy. I am proud of my team that we managed to win both games in the double week. I’m happy that I was ready, I’m happy I helped my team. We focus on the win and we focus on the next game.”