The most important Greek derby in years will see Panathinaikos (18-10) attempt to keep hold of third place by winning at Olympiacos (17-11).
Georgios Bartzokas, Olympiacos: 'Without a doubt, a very good team'
Seasons
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 29 of 34
Regular Season
Olympiacos PiraeusOLY
7165
Panathinaikos AKTOR AthensPAO
Overview
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Both teams are in great form, with the Reds winning five in a row while Ergin Ataman's team has triumphed in three straight. The opening-week meeting between the teams saw Olympiacos win 78-88, powered by 17 points and 10 rebounds from Alec Peters, meaning Georgios Bartzokas's team has now won five derbies in a row. But Panathinaikos could not be more motivated to end that slide and will look to feed off the energy provided by Mathias Lessort, who has a PIR of at least 20 in five consecutive games. Two of the league's best defenders will also battle for backcourt dominance as Thomas Walkup takes on Jerian Grant.
Georgios Bartzokas, Olympiacos head coach
"We are talking about a game with specific gravity, everyone knows that. But to me it is even more important because we are getting close to the end of the regular season. We had and have a very difficult schedule, with teams that have goals and good chances to make it to the playoffs. We got three very big wins, in Munich, Valencia and Kaunas, we also got Bologna here, although we missed Walkup. We still have injury problems and our goal is to take on another team that is above us in the standings. Panathinaikos is, without a doubt, a very good team. Its position proves it. So, it is going to be another difficult and demanding game for us and although the preparation conditions were not being the best for us, because of the injuries, we are in a good position and we think we have good chance to get the win."
Ergin Ataman, Panathinaikos head coach
"It's a normal EuroLeague game on the road, so we follow our normal game procedures. The basketball fight on the club is normal for everybody and both clubs are professional. My decision was to practice here at Peace and Friendship because it's what we do on road games. Both teams play with EuroLeague rosters. In the cup we didn't have a high score. That's what Olympiacos likes, so we will try to find our way this time. Six more games ahead of us. For us it will be very important to win as many games as possible. I think that five games will kepp us in the top four spots. The schedule is tough and the games are hard, and this derby is one of the hardest. Not just because it's a derby, but because Olympiacos plays great basketball."
Filip Petrusev, Olympiacos player
"I think that the game tomorrow is not much different from the previous ones and the Cup final. Obviously, we play in front of our fans, so I think this will be an advantage for us. But I think that what we must do is to fix the mistakes we did in the previous game, especially on defense and improve those small details that are so important in this kind of games."
Kendrick Nunn, Panathinaikos player
"We prepare by watching film. We had good practices. We are preparing for a hard game in a hostile environment. I expect it to be a physical game. It's the battle of Greec, and we are very serious about it."