By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Olympiacos Piraeus coach Giorgos Bartzokas commented on the results of the All-EuroLeague Teams and Coach of the Year voting, regarding the fact that the Reds were the only Final Four side with no representative on either squad and he didn’t get many votes in the COTY selection.
“Chus Mateo deserved the Coach Of The Year award 100 percent. Real Madrid dominated during the entire season,” Bartzokas commented during the post-game presser after the win of Olympiacos over AEK Athens in Game 1 of the Greek League quarterfinals. “Why shouldn’t he be the Coach of The Year?”
“When it comes to players, I’m clear on that. There are fantastic players on both All-EuroLeague Teams and fantastic players who didn’t make the Teams,” Bartzokas added.
Bartzokas was voted EuroLeague Coach of the Year in 2013, as he led Olympiacos to the EuroLeague championship, and then in 2022 and 2023 after his return to the team in 2020.
“I was never preoccupied with this, to be honest,” Bartzokas had previously mentioned. “The second time I was voted COTY I didn’t even have a clue, I hadn’t even thought about it. Last year, they announced it to me while I was here. Of course, I was happy but, to tell you the truth, I don’t care because the previous two seasons we didn’t win the EuroLeague, even though we played…”
This year, Olympiacos became the first Final Four team to not have any All-EuroLeague player since the positionless voting was established in 2011-12.
“There’s a particular way of voting with coaches, players, fans and others participating,” Bartzokas said. “Obviously, it’s something subjective. We must accept it as it is. Neither I nor any Olympiacos players had any problem that they weren’t voted into the All-EuroLeague teams.”
“What we represent is that we care about the team and not individual titles. If you ask me, I’ll tell you that my job, the job of the coaching staff and the entire Olympiacos teams, was harder than the previous two seasons.”