By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
After grabbing seven rebounds to rise to eighth place on the EuroLeague’s all-time rebounds list, surpassing Ioannis Bourousis, in addition to recording seven points and one assist in a win against Virtus Bologna on Friday, Nikola Milutinov spoke with Eurohoops about improvements across Olympiacos.
“We played an overall good game today. But is it our best performance? I don’t know. Others can judge that. The only important thing is that we got the win tonight. We bounced back after the loss in Dubai, so we are back on track,” he commented on the Reds improving to 17-9 in the 2025-26 Regular Season.
An overtime loss to Dubai on Tuesday marked the start of a double-game week, followed by the Round 27 win at the Peace and Friendship Stadium.
“I wouldn’t say we were terrible, but we had a bad performance against Dubai. We know we can play better, and we just wanted to show that it was merely one bad night. We didn’t want to let those bad games linger as we have in the past. We wanted to show it was just one bad night for us, and we’re back on the right path,” mentioned the 31-year-old center.
With 12 games left in the Regular Season, Olympiacos sits second, trailing leader Fenerbahce Beko by two games and enjoying a slight advantage over several teams in the postseason hunt.
“I think the away game against Virtus was when we really started improving. We had some talks after some tough losses. Our captain, Papanikolaou, was explaining to us what we needed to do, so he deserves a lot of credit; we really stepped up and changed our game after that,” he reflected on a team meeting earlier in the season.
“This is between us,” he said, declining to elaborate on the content. “The important thing is that the talk worked. A month and a half ago, we were out of the Play-In spots, so I’m glad we’ve put ourselves in this position. We have to keep this up because, in the EuroLeague, one or two losses can drop you six or seven places in the standings. There are no easy games. You saw today that people expected Red Star to beat Maccabi, but it’s always tough. We have to stay focused to finish the regular season in the best possible position.”
Besides Kostas Papanikolaou’s leadership, Milutinov also discussed a recent roster addition, Tyrique Jones.
“It’s not like it’s a name that we didn’t know. He’s a very good player who has been well-known in the EuroLeague for years. He brings great energy, plays well defensively, and makes a big impact on offense. He is a great addition to Olympiacos,” he explained.
Resuming the continental campaign in Round 28, the team coached by Giorgos Bartzokas hosts Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet next Thursday.