By Antonis Stroggylakis / astroggylakis@eurohoops.net
ABU DHABI – Considering the lack of value in a Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four third-place game, Olympiacos and Panathinaikos Aktor were naturally focused on a best-of-five championship series in Greece’s Stoiximan GBL.
“It doesn’t matter,” Sasha Vezenkov downplayed a win for the Reds opposite the eternal rivals in Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena, talking to EuroLeague TV after the third-place contest on Sunday.
“We didn’t play in the Final, which was our goal. So, this game was not important,” he explained, “We fought for our fans, who came here, a long trip. Other than that, we are focused on the domestic league, our championship goal.”
“I’m proud of my guys for reaching the Final Four two years in a row. Last year, we won the title. This year, we tried, but we did not play a good game on Friday against Fenerbahce. But it’s OK. This is a game. But now we return to our country and fight for the Greek League title against Olympiacos,” the head coach of the Greens, Ergin Ataman, confirmed a similar focus for his side.
“It’s better than losing,” the play-caller of Olympiacos, Giorgos Bartzokas, described winning the third-place contest during a postgame press conference, “Of course, it was a game that nobody wanted to play in, basically. But the rivalry between the two teams always creates a special game.”
“The only goal for us in this game was to give minutes to Samudorov. He played great in the first half, but in the second half he was out with five fouls, like [Kendrick] Nunn in the Semifinals,” Ataman also revealed the plan for 20-year-old Alex Samodurov, who had eight points with 3/3 field goals, four rebounds, and one assist, logging nearly 13 minutes before exiting due to a fifth foul.
Game 1 of the GBL Finals is set to be played in OAKA Altion on Friday.