This is what the protagonists had to say after the Round 27 showdown between Olympiacos Piraeus and AX Armani Exchange Milan.
Post-game quotes: Olympiacos vs. Milan
Olympiacos Piraeus head coach Georgios Bartzokas:
"It was one of the worst games of the season, but even in these games, you need to finally manage to win. It is a very important win for us. Milan is a great team. Both teams were coming from a difficult week, having a lot of pressure to win cup titles. It looked like we were without energy, without motivation, we were really bad in the first half. But finally, we found our rhythm in passing, defended well protecting our basket with our bigs. We found some open looks and we managed to get a very important win. Congratulations to the players, and also to the fans."
AX Armani Exchange Milan head coach Ettore Messina:
"It was not a nice game to watch. When you turn the ball over 17 times, like we did, and the opponent shoots 36 free throws versus 11, it is a good combination to have a recipe for disaster. The game was highlighted by Kostas Sloukas, who was by far the best player on the court and he decided the game. He made a couple of threes at one point, and a couple of assists in a row to Vezenkov. He made the game for them. Congratulations to him, to coach Bartzokas and to Olympiacos. We move on."
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Olympiacos Piraeus guard Kostas Sloukas:
"Thanks to Coach Messina for his words. The key is to be aggressive all the time, even when we make some turnovers and miss some shots. We expected this kind of game, a physical game. Milan is a really good team, they play physical, they play smart, they have experienced players. I think our reactions was normal after winning the cup, but finally we took the win and we need to keep going."
Olympiacos Piraeus forward Sasha Vezenkov:
"I am trying to give my best, like every game. I am very happy, Milan is a really great team, they are amazing on defense. That shows that we scored 67 points, we did not play well on offense. But in the second half especially, and even in the first half, we played great on defense and I think it is one of our best games on defense this year. Honestly, we were a little bit empty the first two days [after winning the Greek Cup] and we saw that in the first half. But we said it would be a pity to lose this game just because we don't show energy. So in the second half we played better, we showed more energy and we are very happy we won this game."