Olympiacos Piraeus (5-4) will look to make it three wins in a row as it welcomes a Zalgiris Kauans (4-5) team battling to get back into the playoffs zone.
Georgios Bartzokas, Olympiacos: 'We are talking about a hustle team'
Seasons
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 10 of 34
Regular Season
Olympiacos PiraeusOLY
8972
Zalgiris KaunasZAL
Overview
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Olympiacos grabbed a vital victory over Zvezda last time out behind 28 points from Alec Peters, while the Lithuanian team also comes with confidence renewed after narrowly overcoming Bayern to end a four-game losing slide. Olympiacos is one of the best defensive teams in the league, allowing just 75.8 points per game, and will hope Moustapha Fall continues to dominate the boards after he grabbed 14 rebounds last week. Zalgiris will counter him with in-form Laurynas Birutis, who had 10 points and 9 rebounds in the win against Bayern.
Kazys Maksvytis, Zalgiris head coach
"Olympiacos is one of the best teams in the EuroLeague. They kept the core of the team, kept the style. Olympiacos has good ball movement and is one of those teams that are not easy to play against. We will need to limit the dominance of their big men under the basket. They not only score, rebound, but also distribute the passes well. It will be a tough game, but we’re going to prepare for it."
Georgios Bartzokas, Olympiacos head coach
"Zalgiris is an extremely dangerous team. Whoever has basketball knowledge and watches EuroLeague games knows that we are talking about a team that always plays to win. They execute very well on offense; they have good plays and they are solid. On defense, we are talking about a hustle team. It’s not just Hayes, who is great on defense. All the players attack on the ball. That’s why you must have patience, good execution and stay focused on the plan. Zalgiris is a team that you can never underestimate."
Keenan Evans, Zalgiris player
"Despite winning our last game, we are still on edge because we know we can play better. A little bit of the weight has been lifted off our shoulders, and it helps us to just concentrate on basketball. Winning helps to give everybody a confidence boost. Olympiacos is a powerhouse team. They have the pieces, they have the talent. They have lost some players, they have acquired new players, but they have kept the core. We know that we will have to be as focused as possible when we go to the arena that is difficult to play in. Our physicality has to be there from the tip-off. We have to fight until the end, as we did in the last game."
Moustapha Fall, Olympiacos player
"It is going to be a tough game, as every game in EuroLeague. We must be ready to fight, play hard and have consistency. It’s good that we will have Milutinov back and I will not have to play 35 minutes, although his return does not change my approach. For sure I will be fresher and more aggressive on everything I do, but as I said it does not change my approach. Every time I step on the court, I try to do my best."