The designation “Chess Player” has followed George Bartzokas for years, and not without reason.
The coach of Olympiacos is now considered one of the top figures on the European coaching scene and tonight at OAKA he has his biggest challenge of the season ahead of him.
In the Final Four final at the Telecom Center, the Piraeus club will face Real Madrid and will be looking to take the final step towards winning the Euroleague with a fourth star and a return to the throne of European basketball in sight.
Coincidence brings the two teams together again in a final, as happened in London in 2013, when the Reds prevailed 100-88 in one of Vassilis Spanoulis’ most iconic nights.
Bartzokas’ solutions and the image in the semifinal
In the semifinal against Fenerbahce, Olympiacos showed that it was ready for the big challenge. Bartzokas’ team had different protagonists throughout the game and found solutions every time the Turkish team tried to come back.
Tyler Dorsey provided important offensive solutions, Sasha Vezenkov was again pivotal, Alek Peters had an excellent game with 17 points and absolute accuracy, while Evan Fournier scored crucial baskets at the most crucial point of the game.
For tonight’s final, the Greek coach has all his players available, except for the unlucky Kinan Evans, and it remains to be seen what the final 12 will be.
Kostas Papanikolaou stood on the importance of the final and the boost given by the presence of the crowd.
“My feelings haven’t changed compared to two days ago or compared to before the Final Four I feel confident because that’s what this team inspires me, we’ve worked a lot all year, we’ve put in a lot of effort and I think we’re all at the level of readiness we need for the final.”
On the fact that the court will be in Olympiacos’ favor, he said: “We don’t think about outside the lines we only think about inside and that’s where the title is decided and that’s our primary goal that’s what we’ve said with all the guys the fact that we’re playing here is an extra motivation but the title itself says it all.”
Real and the problems in the racket
Real Madrid reached the final after beating Valencia in the Spanish “civil war”. Sergio Scariolo’s team won 105-90, showing quality and depth on their roster.
The Madrid team had an excellent night from Hezonja, Dec, Liles, Felix and Cabazzo, but they still face significant problems at the center position.
Injuries to Tavares and Len are creating serious issues at the rim, while Yurcheven, who was recently acquired, is ineligible.
The history of the finals between Olympiacos and Real
The two teams have met four times in a Euroleague final.
The first was in 1995 in Zaragoza, where Real won 73-61. It was followed by Olympiacos’ 100-88 triumph in London in 2013, while in 2015 the Spaniards won 78-59 in Madrid. The last duel was in 2023 in Kaunas, when Real won 79-78 thanks to Yul’s basket in the final seconds.
This season, the two teams shared one win each in the regular season. Real won 89-77 in Madrid, while Olympiacos responded with a 102-88 victory in the Peace and Friendship Stadium.
Strong security measures at OAKA
Strong security measures will be in place for tonight’s final at OAKA. The gates of the stadium will open from 15:00, while the Olympiacos fans will gather from 17:00 at the “Faliro” station, from where special trains will depart for OAKA without any intermediate stops.
Real Madrid fans will gather at the Panathinaikos Stadium and will be transported by organized buses.
The EΛ.AΣ. made it clear that those without a personalised ticket and an original police ID or passport will not be allowed entry, while the measures will be applied “universally, strictly and without exceptions”.
