BARTZOKAS, GEORGIOS
Khimki Moscow Region
"I would like to congratulate everyone in our club: the president, sponsors, players, my colleagues, the front office, because it's a big moment for our club – the first time in history we've qualified for the playoffs as one of the top eight teams in the EuroLeague. We have also achieved this, I think, in the most difficult EuroLeague ever, playing against the best teams in this new format. If we see which teams are behind us in the rankings we can realize what a big achievement it is. On the game, we had a lot of pressure in the first half when we allowed almost 50 points. We were hesitating on defense and offense so we gave an opportunity to a talented team like Efes. But in the second half it was a dominating performance on defense – we gave them only 24 points, their field goals were 30%, we forced them to make 8 turnovers and generally played the game like we had to play in a game that was like a final for us. We also had nearly 30 assists so you can see how well we shared the ball. I think we have seven wins on the road – that’s credit to the players. Now we have three games more to finish, so let’s fight in every game to the end to see where we can finish. What I’m trying to build up in this team is, no matter who we play, to fight to win. You just have to have principles. Of course we have ambitions, but honestly, knowing how good this EuroLeague is, it’s very difficult to achieve the playoffs and a big accomplishment for the club. So right now, for one night, let’s be satisfied with this."