By Nikos Mastrogiannopoulos/ info@eurohoops.net
Olympiacos returned to winning ways in the Euroleague (5-3) after beating Hapoel Tel Aviv.
It was an ugly game, as the final 62-58 score indicates, and coach Giorgos Bartzokas admitted that his players seem to be under immense pressure.
“ We didn’t change anything in terms of tactics”, he said, referring to the way his team played in the second half. “I told them to calm down, the players were under a lot of pressure, and it’s still October. We need to calm down a bit… We have the whole season ahead of us. Let’s calm down a bit. We don’t need to have so much pressure right now; we have to play our basketball. I told them that if we have patience and the right offense, we will find a way”.
Speaking about the game and keeping Hapoel to four points in the third period, Bartzokas added: “They scored four points in the third quarter, for a team that is second in offense in the entire Euroleague, it is a great achievement for us. On the other hand, we were nervous, we shot badly, we made mistakes, and we had 16 turnovers. We have to win the games, whatever the circumstances. What counts now is the victory. We learn from every game”.