By Vaggelis Papadimitriou/ info@eurohoops.net
Giorgos Bartzokas was asked after Olympiacos’ win in Game 1 against AEK in the Greek GBL semifinals about comments from Real Madrid coach Sergio Scariolo regarding the calls in the EuroLeague final.
Bartzokas calmly explained his position, justifying Real Madrid‘s reaction and also mentioning the reactions from Panathinaikos and its fan base.
Regarding Sergio Scariolo’s statements, Bartzokas said: “It’s human nature, I wouldn’t say to avoid responsibility, because Real Madrid played amazingly and was excellently prepared. What we’ve been doing for so many years is focusing on our team.”
However, the coach of Olympiacos continued his line of thinking, focusing on Panathinaikos and other critics: “We’ve never resorted to methods, saying how many free throws someone shoots. When Panathinaikos in 2024 had the most free throws in their favor and the fewest against them, it wasn’t an issue; this year, when Olympiacos had the most free throws, it became a propaganda tool. It didn’t become the same when Euroleague apologized to Barcelona for Vrankovic’s block (ed. note: in the 1996 Final between Panathinaikos and Barcelona). We don’t want to get involved into this… We understand the situation; society is like that. Instead of focusing on ourselves, we try to belittle others. Some are professionals, and they execute it well; they have a plan, and they do it in a nice way, every day. But as you saw, on the team that is first in three of the last four seasons, competes in the Final Four, sweeps through the playoffs, and played a very difficult game, as it was the final against Real, trying to look for one or two calls like Campazzo’s foul… I would say that no officiating allows you to play such hard defense for 40 minutes, and none gives you a foul on Campazzo’s kick in the air to get back into the game, while the score is 88-80″.
The bottom line, according to Bartzokas, is simple: “Everyone can say whatever they want. Real is a huge club. And because Olympiacos is also a huge club, when we lose, we shake hands and leave. It bothers us because we are not the winners, but we will not resort to such methods.”
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