We Are Olympiacos - Issue 7 English Version

EDITORIAL

“A rock, iron, steel will not endure. A man will”, the great Nikos Kazantzakis had said and this is a phrase we need to keep visiting during the difficult times we live in, in order to be able and move forward. We need to stay together as humans, as a society and overcome this bad dream that has been haunting us during the past few months whenever we close our eyes and seeking a few moments of tranquility.

During this difficult time we live in, we are summoned - each one for themselves and all together for everyone around us - to find a way to keep going. To try and live with safety and great precautions because health is the most precious of all gifts and we need to treat it as such.

A new season is on the way, very different to all the previous ones, but also with a lot of similarities to older times. So, it’s Back 2 the future, with coach B, the captain, “Print”, “Pap”, “Slouki” who came back from living in foreign lands and all the other guys.

We came together to create something beautiful. One more journey that may become one more fairytale…

Christos G. Bafes TITLES

ADMINISTRATION

EuroLeague 1997, 2012, 2013

Owners Panayotis & Giorgos Angelopoulos

Intercontinental Cup 2013 Olympiacos B.C. S.A. Address: Peace and Friendship Stadium Ethnarchou Makariou 1 Ave. Νeo Faliro - Piraeus 185 47 Tel.: 210 45 27 600 Fax: 210 45 27 601 Email: info@olympiacosbc.gr Website: www.olympiacosbc.gr

Greek Championships 1949, 1960, 1976, 1978, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2012, 2015, 2016 Greek Cup Winners 1976, 1977, 1978, 1989, 1994, 1997, 2002, 2010, 2011

Board Members Giorgos Skindilias Dimitris Prassos

We Are Olympiacos (Official Magazine) Publishes by PRESS OFFICE of OLYMPIACOS B.C. Editor in Chief Christos Bafes

General Manager Nikos Lepeniotis

Editors Jenny Gravia Αntonis Katsikis

Financial Manager Nearchos Riganas

Designer Andreas Saisanas

Marketing & Commercial Development Director Nikos Lepeniotis

Photographic Agency Eurokinissi

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CONTENTS

8 INTERVIEW: GIORGOS BARTZOKAS The coach of Olympiacos talks about everyone and everything.

COLUMNS

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WHEN I WAS TEN

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WHAT’S TRENDING

68 QUIZ

ISSUE 7 / OCTOBER 2020

22 PRESENTATION The 2020-21 Olympiacos.

46 THE COMPANY IS BACK TOGETHER Spanoulis, Printezis, Papanikolaou and Sloukas… dress up.

55 bwin AND SLOUKAS TOGETHER At the backstage of the bwin spot with Kostas Sloukas in the leading role!

59 LIVIO JEAN-CHARLES Olympiacos had been his … destiny!

64 OFFICIAL OLBC STORE It gives you the chance to dress exactly like the ‘reds’ stars!

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PHOTOGRAPHERS’ CHOICE No matter what, we are always going to be fighting for Olympiacos!

And we are always going to be fighting together! #TogetherWeFight

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GIORGOS BARTZOKAS “All paths lead to the same goal: to convey to others what we are”.

(Pablo Neruda, 1904-1973, Chilean poet)

As much as it sounds contradictory given the nature of his profession, Giorgos Bartzokas despises public exposure and even more, self promoting. However, his course on and off the courts speaks volumes about him, probably much louder than he would have wished. The head coach of Olympiacos accepted - after lots of pressure of course - to talk about some of the most important milestones in his life, from childhood till today, always of course through “We Are Olympiacos”.

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«You should get an education…»

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he person with the greatest impact, both with his presence as well as with his absence, had been his father, Andreas Bartzokas. “The story of my childhood years is quite public by now. A have a sister, Lydia, that’s two years older than I am. We grew up without a father, since he had been exiled. He was freed when I was 9 years old. Times had been extremely political; it wasn’t just my father’s ideology. It was a really difficult situation for everyone then, because we had a dictatorship. But even after democracy was restored, my father would continue with political activism, since he was one of the leaders of the United Democratic Left, so I got to grow up into all of that. Of course the situation had an impact on me as a child, because when you get to grow up without your father at home, roles start shaping differently. Actually, my mom had both roles. But this hadn’t been difficult only for me; it was the same for a lot of people”.

Despite his height, that had made him feel uncomfortable at a younger age, basketball had never crossed him mind. “I would be playing football in the neighborhood, just like most of the kids and at some point, some guy that was involved with the team of Amaroussio saw me and suggested that I registered with the team because I was really tall.

He told enough times to drive me to a decision, so I went there and got my player’s ID. I was 12 at the time and up to that moment I really hadn’t had any significant encounter with the sport, however, I got good quite fast”. That fast actually, that when at only 16 years of age, he succeeded in getting a spot in the men’s team roster of Amaroussio. “Basketball was different then. Maroussi had a core with kids my age, some a little older, a few a little younger, that sustained the team for many years. It was an environment that made me feel really good. When you are young, tall and stand out, it doesn’t really make you feel comfortable. You don’t feel comfortable being different. But everyone in basketball would be like me and I liked that”.

His involvement with basketball was not making his parents happy, but neither made them upset enough to become insurmountable obstacles.

“In my first year of junior high, I took an exam that gained me entrance to the Varvakeio School. It was the top school in Greece at the time, a prototype, very demanding. My parents were opposed to me playing basketball. They wanted me to take school really seriously. But, if I was in anyway ‘cheating’ on anything, that would be lessons. The school was very good, really progressive, had extremely good teachers, very strong competition with good students, I mean from the 40 kids in my class, 38 got into higher education institutes”. Coach Bartzokas was one of them, who got to study political science at the Law School. “I indeed got in and graduated, but I really did it for the sake of my parents. I had been infatuated with basketball, so I just finished my studies for them”.

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«He found the coach in him early on»

hanks to his height and his athletic skills, he was quickly among the starters of his team and was considered to be among the major talent of the time. However, he disagrees with the assumption. “Looking back and knowing a couple of things more, I don’t think I was a great talent. I had some skills, but now a lot more things are required if you want to have a career. I think I didn’t have those. The thing is that we had no help then.

Now, a kid is supported in order to play basketball and I’m talking about his training, exercising, weight lifting and all of that. We did everything wrong then, resulting in my body giving up on me. I had surgeries at a very young age. I had the first one at 21, then a second one, a third one and I started declining levels gradually”.

His body would be giving up on him, however, his love for the ‘orange goddess” never left him! “Basketball had been my passion and that’s why I took up

coaching. I had already, since becoming 20 years old and being with Maroussi, started coaching the kids teams of the club to boost my income, but also because I liked it. So, when I saw that my body wasn’t following me, I decided to become a coach. I started out from small, local team. I worked in these categories for quite a few years… Pefke, Kifissia and Vrilyssia.

I had been head coach for quite a few years at this level. At the same time I was also the manager of the gym at Amaroussio. It was a job that offered me steady pay and allowed me to be a coach at the same time. I never thought of becoming anything else. I took up what I wanted, at a cost in the beginning, because when you are a coach at local categories, you aim to go someplace. But at the same time, there are so many other people doing what you do, following the same process and still never were lucky enough to be where I have come to be. So, it was a huge risk. This could have backfired some way, because luck plays a huge role in these situations”.

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«His relationship with Maroussi… carma»

e was given his first big opportunity to ascend as a coach once again by Maroussi. “Panagiotis Giannakis, who was the team coach at the time, had wanted a fourth assistant. Back then, a 4th assistant was considered an extravaganza. I have had that role for three years and of course it helped me a lot, because I started doing things that I had never done as the head coach. It also helped me shape a more rounded opinion of the sports and come to understand my associates, especially in terms of what they are going through and what the procedure is. Maroussi was a contester team then. It was a big school. It was the number two team in Greece. Olympiacos was 8th seed at the time. Giannakis’ mentality helped me also very much, his methods. Watching how a team can be ‘built’ so as to challenge big goals”.

The more years passed, the more Bartzokas’ role would get upgraded. He became the first assistant coach on the team, and when Olympia (i.e team in La12 WE ARE OLYMPIACOS

rissa, Greece) offered him the head-coaching position in 2006 he got cold feet! “I had wanted to stay at Maroussi as an assistant. I hadn’t wanted to leave, because this was the team I had played for and it was a good environment for me. Giorgos Malakos, who had been a childhood friend of mine and was Olympia’s President then, decided that he wanted me to be the head-coach.

He wanted me to succeed Vangelis Alexandris. And although I didn’t really want to go for it for 2000 different reasons, I finally did it. All the more, although I went to Larissa with a heavy heart, I stayed there for three years and I was really sad when I left because things had gone really well. I had actually not wanted to leave my comfort zone, but if you want to succeed, you have to dare yourself. If you want to follow the career of a coach, you should have a suitcase packed at all times and always adjust to new environments, with different people and cultures. All of that would cause me a lot of anxiety at first, but thankfully, it went well and this is due to the fact that the Malakos brothers helped me a lot. They created an ideal environment for me to succeed».

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«The secret… support from the board and a good staff»

f you’re wondering what the ideal environment for the Olympiacos’ coach is, here’s the answer: “First of all, the coach should feel the support of the owners. The coach is good as the authority he has with the administration. If this relationship gets ‘hurt’ for any reason, the coach stops being that good. Then, just like Vangelis Angelou had said ‘the coach is as good as his assistants’. He’s not as good as his players, because players come and go, you shape them… But, if you have these two elements, a good staff and the trust of the ownership, automatically you are good. If you don’t have either, sooner or later your work will suffer”. His first ever performance as a head-coach had been completely successful. “We went to the play-offs with Olympia for the very first time. We had come to a point where we were at 4th seed before the end, but we got some bad luck and finally finished 7th. Matt Walls, Savo Djiganovic and Giorgos Apostolidis all suffered fractures within a few days from one another. It was unprecedented. This resulted in the weakening of our roster; we lost a couple of games at the end and finished seventh, instead of fourth. However, we once again made the play-offs next year. The third season though, due to the terrible financial crisis that befell Greece and the Malakos’ family developed into a year that we just had to save the category. Eventually, after three years and with a heavy heart, I had to leave Olympia, without having any other choice. I had to leave because I could simply not make a living”.

His path took him to Maroussi once again, but this time he got to be the captain. “It was a difficult gig, because they had won third place the year before and with it, the ticket to the Euroleague qualifiers. Mr. Vovos was leading the board at the time, who never got involved with the decisions in regard to the shaping of the roster and Panagiotis Alexandris had been the general director with who I had a very good collaboration.

I believe we had made a very good team in terms of the budget we had been allocated. We built a team that not only succeeded in the Euroleague qualifiers leaving Aris and Alba Berlin behind, not only did it qualify for the TOP-16 which was important, but is also almost made the TOP-8. It beat Panathinaikos, practically eliminating him from the Euroleague and we once again won third place of the Greek League, which had been really hard.

It was also a year that due to the financial crisis, the Vovos family was deeply impacted and we had practically played the whole year without getting paid! So, for me, it was a second year in a row without getting paid, one with Olympia and one with Maroussi. It’s only true that I was really struggling at that point because I had a family and a kid by then. But I’m lucky that the seasons were at least good ones. Yes, I wasn’t getting paid, but we were playing for the Euroleague, I was amassing new experience and had the support of my family».

Due to the financial hardships the country was facing, Giorgos Bartzokas once again had to go through the exit door. “The situation in Maroussi changes. Vovos left and I was unemployed in the summer. I chose to be without a job, rather than continuing with Maroussi in a controversial situation. I hadn’t had any offer at hand then, because the whole thing dragged through the summer and it was September already by the time I decided to leave. In October though, Mr. Lianos decided to change the coach of Panionios and I accepted his offer.

Mr. Lianos was trustworthy and a very serious person and Panionios was a big staple for Greek basketball. Our goal during our first season together was practically to save the category and we did that with ease I would say, while we won 3rd place in our second season. It is in essence as if you win the championship when you are seeded behind Olympiacos and Panathinaikos. Then came the offer from Olympiacos”.

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«In the … Top 3 of the happiest days of his life!»

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is affiliation had always been with the ‘reds’, since he was a kid and would go with his uncle Christos (his father’s brother) to the “Karaiskakis” (i.e. Olympiacos’ football team stadium). That’s why the dominant feeling - despite the intense scrutiny he was facing - was that of elation. “The day I signed with Olympiacos is one of the two or three happiest of my life. There was controversy because Olympiacos had won both the Greek League and the Euroleague. I was succeeding Ivkovic, in a team that could do, well, what more? Anything I would be achieving would be of lesser importance.

Deep inside I knew I was entering a situation of immense scrutiny and pressure. Nevertheless, being a fan of Olympiacos, I was only happy to experience this. Emotionally, I was super content. I never saw it as a vindication for my coaching skills. And more or less, I knew what I was going to be facing. To win the Euroleague again anyway, we had to go through a lot”.

All those who look back at the 2012-13 season, mainly remember the celebrations at London. However, in Bartzokas’ mind the road to London is what’s deeply engraved…

“We had a season with lots of ups and down.

All the more, all our opponents were greatly motivated when playing against us. We were the European Champions and they wanted to beat us. Also, the team had a certain

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budget, around 6.5 million euro and was practically competing against the whole of Europe. When a team runs on such a budget and is practically relying on the quality of the choices of the administration, the players, and the coaches and is still competes for titles, it goes against to Euroleague’s financial structure. Because, according to the organizing authority, more money had to be invested, while big contracts were good for both the players and the agents. The money had to move around, which was against to what Olympiacos was advocating for”.

Asked what was the most difficult thing in the transition from Panionios to Olympiacos, he replied: “I never had a problem in regard to my knowledge about basketball.

I mostly had a problem to manage personalities with big ‘egos’. And that’s something you learn as time goes by. Managing people is the most difficult task. Khimki’s president had told me: “I have 8,000 employees; I deal with unions, the police, the state etc. The only people I cannot get a feed back of what they’re thinking are big players. That’s where I completely fail. And that’s how I understand how tough it must be to be a coach”.

And this is really the hardest part. You have to handle some very successful players that have very inflated egos. I’m not only talking about Olympiacos, I talk about the general situation at that level of basketball. Players are first of all interested in playing and then in winning. The coach only is interested in winning. So many times it is that you are at odds with them».

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«The front pages and the truly big moments»

ut it wasn’t just the strong personalities he had to handle. “I had to control the immense pressure with Olympiacos. It’s a very big club and for the outsiders I was theoretically the easy victim for anything that went wrong. I remember that each time the team would win, the big newspapers, that were friendly to Olympiacos, would have the players’ faces on the front page and each time we would lose, they would post my photo. At first, that would get to me because I thought it was unfair, but then I realized that that’s the game of professional sports. I started handling that better with the years; to the point that now I’m totally indifferent to it”.

In theory, winning the Euroleague - with the known but very important footnote that he had been the first Greek coach to win the certain title - was the absolute vindication. But he prefers to look at things from a different angle. “There are many big moments and many tough ones. Usually, after succeeding you tend to think about difficulties. To me, winning the Euroleague brought joy for a couple of days. Then, we had to play for the Greek League title. Maybe the joy for the title you can experience more after the years go by, when you think about it as a memory. But in the daily grind, sad and difficult moments are more. The most significant experiences I have had with basketball are when some of the athletes I had worked with died. Maybe it sounds strange, but these are the most intense feelings.

The loss of Honeycutt and Jones were brutal. Or the times when I got to visit sick or special needs kids with either Olympia or Barcelona. These are the most intense experiences I have gone through with sports. Of course, a one of a kind experience was the parking lot. It’s socking when fans of your team demand that you leave and almost threaten you with violence. Nobody hit me, but they were cursing me and underestimating me. All of that is still in my mind and is never going to leave. But I have learned by now how this entire thing works. I’m a citizen of the world, I know how Mediterranean people think, the Northern Europeans, I have been introduced to different cultures and everything now make sense”.

He experienced scrutiny for the first time on October of 2014, however, even at this shape he reacted to it in exactly the same way: without outbursts or controversy.

“I’ve been raised not to ever seek for revenge. It’s not in me. First of all, I don’t think too much of myself, neither I am a narcissist. If you take a look, I don’t even have one photo of me taken with the team when we won the Euroleague. When we were on the bus and thousands of fans welcomed us, the Presidents urged me to come out with the players, but I didn’t do it. I didn’t even want to. I feel that the way I operate helps me handle these situations better”.

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«I’m not seeking to profit from the moment»

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bout what went wrong in the 2013-14 season and the team wasn’t able to fulfill the high expectations of the fans, he explained: “It was a very particular season. After winning two back to back Euroleague, all the players had huge offers for contracts with five and six times more money. That’s what happened as soon as London was over. Everybody had offers, myself included. So, it became obvious to me that we wouldn’t be able to keep the team the same. It never crossed my mind to leave then. I stayed with Olympiacos for far less money than what I was being offered. I would never do that because I wanted to show my appreciation to the Presidents.

They had put their trust in me and I thought that leaving would just be my attempt to profiting from the moment and I didn’t want that. But I also knew that the season would be even harder because we had been forced to sign 6 or 7 new players, since we hadn’t been able to keep the team intact. My take is that that team, that only got eliminated by Real Madrid after five games, the fact that it became so tough and once again came so close to succeeding once again at this level, was a collective success of the organization.

«Lokomotiv Kuban and the… catches»

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e did not work for the rest of the season. Up until in the summer of 2015, when he decided to open his wings and fly abroad and more specifically to Russia. “It was a tough period for me. I practically was left without a team for a whole season. There had been a couple of offers from European teams, but I hadn’t wanted to ‘leave’ the Euroleague. In the summer, Lokomotiv, that had gotten a wild card to play for the Euroleague, approached me with an offer. It was a tough year that had a very good outcome. The difference was tremendous. Day and night. In everything… I’m talking about the fans’ mentality, managing the stars of the team… Joining a new culture, you have to understand how the team owner is thinking, those that surround the team. They are a people of introverts and you have to acknowledge that.

The truth is that either because we had a good season, or because Lokomotiv has the warmest fans in Russia, I had been sincerely welcomed. I don’t know why. Maybe because that except for their co-patriots, they don’t find it easy to identify with the Americans, and I, being a Christian orthodox, was completely accepted by the public perception. Of course I wasn’t reading Russian and that made the whole situation easier. For the team, it was a very good season. Qualifying for the final four,

despite being a team that participated with a wild card, is something that had never happened before. All the players that had played for us that season had great careers afterwards and got really big contracts”. Τhe fact that many players saw their value at the basketball stock exchange skyrocketing following their co-operation, resulted in bestowing him the title of the coach that can find real ‘catches’. “That’s not the case.

And it bothers me when they tell me that I have an eye for talent. If I have an eye, then I should become a General Manager and pick players for the team. And anyway, in my first time with Olympiacos, everyone said that I don’t know how to pick players! It’s a mistake to keep saying that. Every coach watches all the players. All the players I have seen this summer, every other coach has seen as well. Who you pick has to do with what kind of basketball you want to play. I at least pick players that I believe can play the kind of basketball I want. The greatest talent you can have is to create an environment where they can play up to their potential and not so much to pick them. I have chosen wrong or it often that a players is not receptive to a new situation. Or it may be that they are going through personal issues or that they get injured. So, this thing that they say, that I have an eye, is not really a compliment. We are talking about real coaching work, not discovering some obscure ‘catch’ as people like to put it”.

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«Barcelona turned into waterloo»

is first season at Krasnodar was ideal, however, when Barcelona - although with a delay‘knocked on his door’, he could not but open it… “While on contract with Lokomotiv, I accepted an offer by Barcelona. The offer came rather late, but I could not say no because of the club’s brand name. Also, my family wasn’t with me in Russian, while we would all be together in Barcelona. Barcelona turned into Waterloo though. Nothing worked right, or more correctly, nothing was working right even before I went there. As soon as I took over, having paid a huge buy out to Lokomotiv, the cost of which was carried by both Barcelona and me, we lost the most talented players in our roster. Satoransky and Abrines left for the NBA. At the same time, the team had too many veterans.

It had been built to reach the top of Europe with players that had final four experiences, however, following the change in the Euroleague format, the regular season games became too many, Liga Endesa is extremely competitive and absolutely exhausting and the team could not support that. That’s the reason we have had so many injuries. The whole year was for nothing. Unfortunately, a season when I had gone to an ideal place in terms of the city and team brand name failed. It was really very hard”.

Nevertheless, even if he had known how things would develop, he would still make the same decision. “Barcelona is a huge club. Looking back, given the choice not to take this decision, I would still do the same… I don’t

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have any regrets for going there. I don’t look back and lament on the situation. I sincerely have good feelings for everyone on the team. It was simply a moment in time that did not help either me or the team. Despite me leaving, the team did not move forward as fast and is still not where it should be”.

This time though, unemployment was not in the cards. “Thankfully, upon leaving Barcelona, I received an offer from Khimki, a Euroleague team and in a kind of familiar environment due to my time with Lokomotiv. I had been used by then to changing places and cultures.

Of course, Moscow is completely different in regard to the psyche of the people compared to the South, where Krasnodar is. But it was a decision I enjoyed taking and went really well. We succeeded in all our goals during the first season. We had said that making the Euroleague playoffs, a not easy task at all and the team had never done before, nor had achieved afterwards and at the same time, win our ticket for next season’s Euroleague by playing against CSKA in the finals. We succeeded in both, despite suffering a lot from injuries. Unfortunately, as soon as that season ended, the thing with Honeycutt happened. He was killed and a huge ‘cloud’ befell the team. Also, various other things impeded with the proper building of the roster, which I wouldn’t want to explain here and then the severe injuries of Shved and Gil followed that remained inactive for a long time.

All of that resulted in the team asking me to leave in January, while I have to repeat, we were playing without Shved and Gil, and then I got to stay for a year away from basketball”.

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«A normal life and the big return»

e did not rush getting back into action this time. “During the time I stayed in Barcelona with my family, I had the chance to do all those things I never had the time to do being a coach.

I was a dad. I have a daughter that is now ten years old. I would pick her up from school, I rode a bus which I hadn’t done in years, I was living a normal life away from basketball. It’s difficult balancing family with work, but you cannot factor this in, because it applies to all coaches. It’s a difficult life for those around you. It’s difficult for you as well, but you have made that decision for yourself. There are no weekends, you are always traveling and you have your eyes focused on summer, when everyone thinks that you are having a vacation, but it’s even more hectic for you because you are preoccupied with ‘building’ your next team and if you fail during that time, the season will rarely level off. It is what it is, you cannot be complaining about it. So, during that time, I tried to work on basketball, but from a different scope, a more educational one. I went to Boston, talked in a couple of seminars; I did things related to coaching. And at Christmas, Olympiacos came…”

He had dismissed the chance of returning to Piraeus. “I never had in my mind there would be a chance I returned to Olympiacos. And since I thought there was no chance for me returning to Olympiacos, there was no chance for me to return to Greece. Mr. Skindilias called me and it didn’t feel like the first time we had spoken.

I was negative at first. There was a talk with the Presidents next, when I once again declined, there was a second one and after a lot of thought I made a purely professional decision and not a sentimental one. That’s because I have now kind of learned how to separate these two. Of course I was still aware of how hard the endeavor was going to be. There were two parameters.

One was that I was being pressured. I told them that it would be best if I took over in the summer, if they still wanted me. They replied that it had to be right then, so that I could see the team, assess its needs and they were really completely on the spot. The previous three months helped me assess people and situations up until everything stopped due to COVID-19. On the other hand, I know that Olympiacos is in a transitional period.

They have failed in the past two or three years, there needs to be a rebuilding in the way the team plays, thinks, functions, because organizationally wise things are very good, much better than before. At the same time we should not overlook that the core of the team leaders in previous years is at a moment in time that you need to have second thoughts as to how the succession is going to be, which needs to be a smooth one. Thankfully, the owners have faith in me and we worked in unison as to how this was going to happen”.

So, the plan is the following: “Creating a new core that will definitely include foreign players. Our goal is to maintain as many foreign players as possible. This is a new endeavor and at the same time we want to bring into focus young Greek players, which is extremely difficult because there is a very limited pool you can draw from between the ages of 20 and 30 right now. You can find only very few Greek players that can play at this level and we have to begin a production procedure to create a new Greek core. All of that calls for time cred-

it, which you can’t get with Olympiacos. I don’t think that three months is a time credit. The team needs time because it’s a brand new one”. And he went on to talk about the ‘key’ to success: “Four new foreign players came, plus Sloukas and Larentzakis. That is six new players plus McKissic and Ellis who had practically only played three games last season, plus Charalampopoulos who has also played very few minutes. In essence, we are talking about nine new faces and nine people are way too many to immediately build a solid team.

Our problem is that we need to become homogenous and to succeed that we need to come through a very complex procedure, of crisis, of bad results. That’s how you become homogenous; you don’t do that by pressing a button. It doesn’t have to do with how much talent the team has or how much skill, it has to do with how solid it is, how it handles difficult situations both during games and in the stretch of time. All of that takes time”.

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«It’s very close to what I had in mind»

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he roster this season is purely of his choice.

Asked at what percentage he was able to ‘build’ according to what he had in mind when last season was officially over, he pointed out: “100% is not feasible, but we are very close to what I had in mind. I wanted the team to have certain playing characteristics, for the point guards to better direct the game. To have point guards that have a better knowledge of the League level and to be experienced at handling different situations. Both that came, Kostas Sloukas mainly and Charles Jenkins, have that. I will not include Larentzakis in that equation, because he’s not Euroleague experienced, while our foreign players are Eurocup level. Euroleague players for these positions were not Olympiacos material due to their financial demands. So, we chose to have very talented Eurocup players, that may not have Euroleague experience, but I do believe they are a group of good players that now need to become a group of winners”.

In the beginning of the season, fans are ‘hungry” for big goals. But Giorgos Bartzokas insists that: “Our true goal is to become homogenous. To become a team that’s mentally and competitively tough, a team that will be hard to bring down. I believe we have the talent to lead us to the Euroleague playoffs, despite - I need to repeat that - the rosters of this season and the money spent are a complete oxymoron in relations to what has happened with the corona virus. The financial ramifications of it have not impacted at all the top European level of basketball that is the Euroleague. It hurt the level below. The current contracts at the top level are out of touch. So, Olympiacos is actually called to manage a situation - with the history of the brand name the club carries - that says it’s a team that costs an X amount. But it’s wrong to think like that. What we need to be think-

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ing is how to build a team that first of all, will have a core for the next years and second, how they are going to become a solid group. I’m sure that this is going to bring results”.

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«I wonder what changed…»

he way he left Olympiacos after his first time with the team was controversial. However, he was greeted with apotheosis upon his return.

“I would like to ask what changed since I left.

I 100% feel the change of the atmosphere, but I keep wondering inside, what changed? I wonder if it has to do with the fact that I lived and worked abroad after Olympiacos and was away from the levels of toxicity embedded in the Greek society. Or that I had a couple of good seasons with Lokomotiv and Khimki? Is it that people would accuse me of not being able to beat Panathinaikos here, but I beat them three times in four games with my next team? What changed? Is it maybe that the fans of Olympiacos are nostalgic of the way we were playing? Because this also plays a role. It’s not just wins and losses; it’s also how the team plays. Or is it that Olympiacos had failed in the past two seasons despite the great expectations related to certain people with the team? I still wonder what brought the change…

Anyway, all of that does not affect me and this is a product of experience. Because I very well know that should a couple of bad results come, this absolute acceptance will cease to exist. So this is something I don’t even think about”.

«He said and you would like to hear that…»

«I generally am not afraid of challenges.

I believe that some way I’ll compete and somehow I’ll succeed. Of course, I may not make it, but that’s how I feel».

------- «There are only a handful of coaches in Europe that will be joining a 30 million budget team. I’m certainly not one of them, because even Barcelona would not be spending the amounts it spends now when I was there. I believe that I wouldn’t find it to be a problem if it happened to me, especially now that I have experience. I would not dismiss it».

------- «Coach Fleming had once said: “When you win, you are relieved you didn’t lose”. This is big. The way things are, it’s not that you enjoy the win; you are relieved for not losing. That’s what professional basketball has become, especially in Europe, where basketball coaches are expendable and easy victims».

------- «I don’t have social media. I don’t want to promote the way I live outside the courts and that’s my choice. I have also asked the people that manage the team media not to include me. I would like for only the people close to me to know my real self. The only thing I want is to be polite and understanding of people».

------- «I’m always polite with people approaching me. In general, when I was in Russia, where nobody knew who I was, mostly in Moscow, not so much in Krasnodar, I felt fantastic. In Barcelona also, during the time I wasn’t working, I still had very few people approaching me to talk and they were really polite. It felt superb! Now here, if I want to be honest, the Olympiacos fans, being from the Mediterranean and very sentimental people, approach me a lot. It’s not something I don’t enjoy; on the contrary, it pleases me. Of course there are extreme behaviors sometimes.

That’s why when I go out for a walk, I prefer going to place with as few people as possible».

------- «I owe a lot of thanks, that’s why I have talked about so many people in this interview. I owe all of them at least one ‘thank you’ and I tell them not only when interviewed, but also privately».

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Alexandros Nikolaidis Νο. 1 Date of birth: 21/08/2001 Height: 1.86m.

Position: Guard Country: Greece 2nd season

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Aaron Harrison Νο. 2 Date of birth: 28/10/1994 Height: 1.98m.

Position: Guard Country: U.S.A. 1st season

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Vassilis Charalampopoulos Νο. 4 Date of birth: 06/01/1997 Height: 2.04m.

Position: Forward Country: Greece 2nd season

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Giannoulis Larentzakis Νο. 5 Date of birth: 22/09/1993 Height: 1.96m.

Position: Guard Country: Greece 1st season

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Antonis Koniaris Νο. 6 Date of birth: 30/09/1997 Height: 1.93m.

Position: Guard Country: Greece 2nd season

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Vassilis Spanoulis Νο. 7 Date of birth: 07/08/1982 Height: 1.93m.

Position: Guard Country: Greece 11th season

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Kostas Sloukas Νο. 11 Date birth: 15/01/1990 Height: 1.90m.

Position: Guard Country: Greece 8th season

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Hassan Martin Νο. 12 Date of birth: 12/11/1995 Height: 2.01m.

Position: Center Country: U.S.A. 1st season

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Sasha Vezenkov Νο. 14 Date of birth: 06/08/1995 Height: 2.06m.

Position: Forward Country: Bulgaria - Greece 3rd season

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Giorgos Printezis Νο. 15 Date of birth: 22/02/1985 Height: 2.05m.

Position: Forward Country: Greece 17th season

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Kostas Papanikolaou Νο. 16 Date of birth: 31/07/1990 Height: 2.04m.

Position: Forward Country: Greece 9th season

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Livio Jean-Charles Νο. 17 Date of birth: 8/11/1993 Height: 2.05m.

Position: Forward Country: France 1st season

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Aleksej Pokusevski Νο. 20 Date of birth: 26/12/2001 Height: 2.11m.

Position: Guard Country: Serbia 3rd season

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Charles Jenkins Νο. 22 Date of birth: 28/02/1989 Height: 1.91m.

Position: Guard Country: U.S.A. 1st season

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Octavius Ellis Νο. 32 Date of birth: 10/03/1993 Height: 2.08m.

Position: Center Country: U.S.A. 2nd season

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Vassilis Christidis Νο. 41 Date of birth: 10/07/1998 Height: 2.08m.

Position: Center Country: Greece 2nd season

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Shaquielle McKissic Νο. 77 Date of birth: 17/08/1990 Height: 1.96m.

Position: Guard Country: U.S.A. 2nd season

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Giorgos Bartzokas ΗΕΑD COACH Date of birth: 11/06/1965 Country: Greece 3rd season

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Christos Bafes Date of birth: 17/06/1978 Sports Director

Christos Pappas Date of birth: 29/06/1963 Assistant Coach

Giorgos Bozikas Date of birth: 03/06/1976 Assistant Coach

Stefanos Triantafyllos Date of birth: 21/01/1982 Assistant Coach

Michalis Kalavros Date of birth: 18/02/1971 Assistant Coach

Andreas Gkatzoulis Date of birth: 07/09/1965 Trainer

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WHEN I WAS10 AARON HArRISON I used to live…

«In Richmond, Texas».

My favorite player was…

«Two players. Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant».

I used to live with…

«My mother, my father and my twin brother».

My favorite TV show was…

«The Price of Bell Air».

Our pets at the time…

«We had no pets».

I was going to school…

«At the Pre-K elementary school».

My best friend’s name was…

«Andrew».

People used to call me…

«My brother would be calling me ‘Aaron Bomb’».

The basketball team I was playing for was…

«The Houston defenders».

The team I was rooting for…

«The Houston Rockets».

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My breakfast would be…

«Cereal».

I would be vacationing…

«At the Disney World».

I would have in my wallet…

«Absolutely nothing!».

I would go to bed…

«At 22:00».

What I loved doing was…

Apart from sports, I used to love: «To hand out with my friends and playing video-games».

Other sports I used to like…

«American football and baseball».

«Playing outdoor basketball».

Should I have 100 euro at the time, I would be spending them…

The ‘silliest’ thing I had done was…

«Probably on basketball shoes».

«Getting in trouble at school. I wasn’t doing anything terrible, but I would always be talking to my friends during class».

The person I would be ‘imitating’ was…

«My dad».

My favorite place on earth was...

«Baltimore, Maryland. It’s where my grandparents live».

My worst habit was…

«Not making my bed».

Olympiacos meant to me…

«I knew nothing about Olympiacos at the time».

My favorite sport was…

«American football».

I would hope dinner to be…

«Cheeseburgers».

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BACK TO THE FUTURE!

W

anna be on top? The red and white…models who are shining on the cover page of the first issue for the season 2020-2021 of our e-magazine, have been on top of Europe, and are reconnected with one goal: to bring Olympiacos where it – historically - belongs to.

Giorgos Bartzokas, Vassilis Spanoulis, Giorgos Print-

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ezis, Kostas Papanikolaou and Kostas Sloukas celebrated together in London the 2013 back-to-back Euroleague championship, and one year earlier the same four players had conquered Constantinople too.

Years went by…coach Bartzokas and “Slouki Lucke” played successfully abroad , and from the past summer they are all together again, aiming to the top!

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WHAT’S TRENDING? Let’s get to know the players of Olympiacos off court. What they eat, what kind of music they listen to, which places they frequent…

GIANNOULIS LARENTZAKIS YOUR FAVORITE TV SERIES RIGHT NOW?

DO YOU WEAR ANY ACCESSORIES?

NETFLIX or AMAZON?

AMONG YOUR TEAMMATES, WHO DRESSES THE BEST?

«Outlander».

«NETFLIX».

«I always sport a watch. I’m generally into watches».

«Kostas Sloukas».

WHICH SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS DO YOU USE? «Instagram, Facebook and a little bit of Twitter».

WHAT KIND OF MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO? WHICH IS THE MOVIE YOU SAW MOST RECENTLY THAT YOU ENJOYED?

«Mostly Greek music, although it generally has to do with what kind of mood I’m in».

«Fast & Furious 4».

DO YOU FOLLOW FASHION TRENDS? WHAT DO YOU LIKE AMONG CURRENT FASHIONABLE ITEMS? «I don’t follow fashion. I like wearing clothes that make fee good».

WHAT DO YOU LOVE WEARING? «Αthletic attire».

WHAT KIND OF SHOES WOULD YOU ALWAYS WEAR IF POSSIBLE? «Mainly sports shoes».

WHAT DO YOU USUALLY MATCH THEM WITH? «Mainly with uniforms and shorts».

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WHAT KIND OF MUSIC DO MOST OF YOUR TEAM MATES LISTEN TO?

«Most of them Greek music, except for the foreigners».

WHICH PLACES DO YOU FREQUENT WHEN YOU GO OUT? «I will go everywhere! At the west side of the city, at the south side, I also used to go at the north side some time back».

WHERE DO YOU USUALLY GO WHEN YOU ALL GO OUT AS A TEAM? «Mostly to the South side, because that’s where most of them live, at All Day spots».

WHICH ONE OF YOUR TEAM MATES HAS THE BEST DANCE MOVES? «Giorgos Printezis».

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WHICH VIDEO GAME YOU PLAY THE MOST? «FIFA and Call of Duty».

FIFA or PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER; «FIFA, it’s a no-brainer».

WHO’S THE BEST AT FIFA/PES AND WHO’S THE WORST?

«I’m the best at FIFA. Vassilis Charalampopoulos is the worst, although he thinks he’s good! He’s not though!».

WHO IS THE MOST AVID GAMER ON THE TEAM? «I don’t think he plays that much, but I would say Alexandros Nikolaidis due to his age».

IS THERE A PHRASE YOU USE A LOT?

ARE YOU CURRENTLY HAPPY WITH YOUR HAIR?

WHO USES THE SAME WORDING OFTEN?

IS THERE ANYONE GIVING YOU ADVICE ON YOUR HAIR?

«I don’t have a phrase. I say ‘come on man’ a lot».

«Sasha Vezenkov».

«Yes, now I am. I changed my stylist».

«Not actually advising, Printezis is rather teasing me a little bit, he’s a bit of a narcissist himself».

IS THERE A FOOD YOU NOW EAT, BUT YOU USED TO HATE IN THE PAST? «I know eat beets and peas, while I didn’t even go near them before. I like beets now, but with peas I don’t really have a good time... I blame the “Gatzoulis - i.e. team trainer - diet».

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AT THE backstage OF THE NEW bwin ADVERTISING SPOT!

H

is talent on the court was apparent from a very young age. However, it was only recently that we found out he can also act! Kostas Sloukas joined forces with the Great Olympiacos sponsor, bwin, and through an advertising spot, they sent their own very important message!

«No one has ever won playing irrationally and in bwin entertainment goes hand-in-hand with responsibility. That makes us … fanatically proud!». Τhe We Are Olympiacos magazine attending the shooting of the spot and brings you all of the backstage through its photographic lens. For those who haven’t seen the spot, Kostas Sloukas is called to make the most crucial free throw shot of his career. However, instead of shooting a basketball, he shoots a bowling ball, that not only cannot reach the basket, but rather digs a hole on the floor!

«Sports are joy and entertainment, so long logic always prevails”, the ‘reds’ guard stated and went on: “I have learned through basketball to work for what’s good for the team and not to get carried away by my enthusiasm. A rushed and illogical play can cost not only me, but also my team our goal. As ambassador for bwin in terms of Social Responsibility, I would like to convey the following message: “We play, have fun, win, and lose, but always with respect and safety».

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58 WE ARE OLYMPIACOS ©2019 COCA-COLA and the CONTOUR BOTTLE are registered trademarks of The Coca Cola Company.

GAMES OF FATE… You cannot escape your fate, but on the other hand, our choices determine our destiny. As it proves, Olympiacos had been Livio Jean-Charles’ destiny all along.

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t may be that only a few people know about it, but the paths of the French forward and that of the ‘reds’ crossed in 2010 and all the more, on French soil.

In the Paris Euroleague Final Four, the Piraeus team made the final, but lost the trophy to Barcelona.

At the same time the team of Panagiotis Giannakis was leaving Palais de Bercy in defeat, the -at the time - 17-year old French forward was winning the Euroleague Youth tournament with INSEP Paris, winning the tournament’s MVP title, with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists in the final against FMP. “It’s something I’ll never forget in my life. That tournament practically pushed me to take up basketball professionally”.

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remember and I’ll always remember those five days in Paris, it was a unique experience for me” the current forward of the Piraeus team told “We Are Olympiacos” in his opening statement and went on to talk about the 2010 ‘reds’. “I remember most of the players on that roster. They were among the most expensive teams in the history of the Euroleague. Olympiacos had a star packed roster at the time and I was thrilled to be able to watch so many great players up close. Unfortunately for Olympiacos, however, that team did not succeed in winning the trophy. But it was definitely one of the best teams ever to hit Euroleague’s courts”.

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O

lympiacos had been the destiny for the French forward and so, ten years later, Livio JeanCharles is wearing the Piraeus team’s jersey, explaining that “I never thought this was going to happen. Not in my wildest dreams. But you can never say never about anything in life. If someone

told me then that ten years later I would be playing for Olympiacos, I would tell them that I might not even be playing basketball in a professional capacity. And now, I’m here and I’m absolutely content and excited with what we have the potential of achieving”.

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I

n the stands of the Palais de Bercy, during that Final Four, was the coach of Amaroussio at the time, having introduced himself to the Euroleague in the previous seasons playing some extraordinary basketball. How is the coach of Amaroussio at the time connected to Livio Jean-Charles and Olympiacos?

Destiny, as said before. Giorgos Bartzokas had visited the French capital to watch the Final Four and now, ten years later, holding the steering wheel of the Piraeus

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team, he’s giving instructions to the French forward. “It’s amazing what life can bring. I never knew that the coach was in the stands then. It now makes sense why I played that well in the final; I wanted to make an impression with him even at such an early stage (laughing). OK, I’m kidding, I knew there were many coaches, agents and basketball people in the stands, but I hadn’t known about the coach. Now that I know, I’ll ask him to see if he remembers me (laughing).

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Do it as a pro!

D

o you want to dress exactly like the ‘reds’ stars? Now you can because the Official Olympiacos BC Store has seen to it! You can find all the high performance products that have been exclusively designed and produced by GSA for the Olympiacos team, or else the sustainable sport specific apparel, at the official boutique of Olympiacos BC! The flagships of the apparel line are the three new jerseys, which - just like every other product - you can order electronically at the https://officialstore.olympiacosbc.gr. However, for more casual appearances, some excellent choices await for you among polo shirts, T-shirts, uniforms and jackets, worn by our players when on delegation. To complete your look, choose a team mask and scarf!

An image though equals a thousand words, so here are our players modeling some of the products you can find at the Official Olympiacos BC Store.

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WHAT’S THE SEASON? (5 points)

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1. Olympiacos won the double (both the Greek Championship and the Greek Cup).

2. Giannis Ioannidis was the coach.

3. Olympiacos became the first Greek team to play the final of the top European Club competition.

2 TO WHOM IT BELONGS? (10 points) Which player of Olympiacos has this tattoo?

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3

FACESWAP (10 points) Name the two players that hide behind this face.

THE HISTORIAN (2 points for every correct answer) 1. He had worn the jerseys of Denver Nuggets and the Toronto Raptors for years. Right or wrong?

2. What was his jersey number when he was playing for the ‘reds’?

3. He wore the jersey of Anadolu Efes after Olympiacos.

Right or wrong?

4. He was born in Vilnius on January 3, 1988. Right or wrong?

5. He played for one season with Olympiacos. Right or wrong?

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5 SNEAKERS CORNER (10 points) Who owns these sneakers?

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FIND THE DIFFERENCES (2 points for each difference) The right photo has five differences compared to the left one.

Can you find them?

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FAMOUS ‘REDS’ FANS (10 points)

WHO SCORED THE BUZZER BEATER? (10 points)

1. He plays football.

There are 5.2’’ on the clock and Olympiacos is tied to Barcelona.

Putting the ball back in the court, Kostas Sloukas spots an unguarded team mate and he takes the shot behind the 6.75m line at the buzzer, making the score 71-68 and sealing the ticket to the Madrid Final Four for the ‘reds’. Who scored the buzzer beater?

2. He’s very good friends with Vassilis Spanoulis.

3. He wears a ‘reds’ armband.

THE OLYMPIACOS’ ARCHIVES (5 points for each correct answer)

1. How many titles has Olympiacos won in total?

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2. Who had been the coach of the team that won the Greek Championship in 1976?

1. He wore the jersey with number 8.

3. How many points did David Rivers score against Barcelona in the final in Rome?

2. He only played for Olympiacos for one season, but he was truly loved by the fans.

3. He had a great NBA career and Olympiacos was the only team outside of the NBA he played for!

4. He was born May 1, 1959.

5. He won the Greek Championship with the ‘reds’ beating Panathinaikos 3-2 in the playoffs finals.

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1. Season 1993-94 2. Octavius Ellis 3. Giorgos Printezis - Kostas Sloukas 4. Right - 11 - Wrong - Wrong - Right 5. Antonis Koniaris 6.

The referee’s t-shirt is missing the Euroleague logo - Number 16 is not on Papanikolaou - Number 7 is missing from Spanoulis’ shorts - The name “MARTIN” is missing from his jersey - The Cosmote logo is missing from the banner 7. Kostas Fortounis 8. Giorgos Printezis 9. 25 - Faithon Mathaiou - 26 10. Eddie Johnson ANSWERS

Before blowing the candles on his cake, “maestro” Shaquielle McKissic conducted his team mates singing him “Happy birthday”.

Team spirit above all else!

When you find out that dinner is beans …

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Vezenkov: “Pal… Are you any good with Greek-Roman wrestling?”

Giorgos Printezis launches the... captain-Giorgos style!

When there’s a photo shoot but you cannot focus because you are always on facetime.

When you realize you have let the boiler on.

Real dialogue - Larentzakis: “Not my right side man… It’s my good one!”.

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