Olympiacos made a break in “Palau Blaugrana” against Barcelona in the first quarter-final and this was the 200th victory of Giorgos Bartzokas in the EuroLeague. From the debut with Marousi to the top of Europe and the goal of one more trophy.
Olympiacos is just two wins away from being in the Final 4 in Berlin. The “red and whites”, who made a break in Game 1 against Barcelona at the “Palau Blaugrana”, need two more successful results against the Catalans to find themselves in the German capital in May and claim the fourth Euroleague in their history. At the same time, if they succeed they will be in the Final 4 for the third year in a row. In 2021-22 they reached the semi-final, last season they were a finalist and lost the title seconds before the final of the grand final, maybe this year the time has come to reach the throne?
The man who has associated his name with the great successes of Olympiakos in Europe but also in Greece is none other than George Bartzokas. The “chessman” may not enjoy the appreciation of domestic opponents, but no one can doubt his coaching ability and by extension quality. The fact that he became the first Greek coach to win the EuroLeague, but also that he has been named Coach of the Year three times (2012-13, 2021-22, 2022-23) confirm the truth of this statement. He is also the first to achieve it in consecutive EuroLeague seasons.
Olympiacos leads Barcelona 1-0 in the Euroleague playoffs series, after the break of the premiere at the Palau Blaugrana. Ahead of Game 2, Giorgos Bartzokas did not prepare his players on the field of the match, but in the humble closed Almeda. Sportal has the report as well as footage from the small gym in the Barcelona district.
George Bartzokas completed four years in the technical leadership of Olympiakos after his return to the “red and white” bench in January 12, 2020. The first time he took over the reins of the Piraeus team was on July 8, 2012 and left on October 10, 2014.
At the same time, the Greek coach with the exception of the season 2010-12 this season completes 15 years of presence as a head coach in the EuroLeague. The beginning of the route took place during the season 2009-10 when he coached at Maroussi. Followed by Olympic (2012-2014) and Kuban locomotive after a few months (2015-16). In the 2016-17 season he was in Barcelona and then guided her Khimki (2017-19) before returning to Port (2020-present).
Olympiacos beat Barcelona 77-75 in Spain and made it 1-0 in the Euroleague Playoffs series. Watch the best phases of the match.
Last Tuesday, Olympiakos’ break in Barcelona was combined with a personal record for him. Reached 200 wins in Europe’s top club competitionsomething he was told during his remarks ahead of Game 2 against Barcelona. “I did not know. Thanks for letting me know. It is impressive and brings back many memories. He is very happy about it and I am even more happy that I managed to do it with Olympiakos”, he initially told the media representative. Asked about his favorite victory, he answered: “There are many, but I’ll pick this one against Real Madrid in 2013 in the EuroLeague final.”
Bartzoka’s EuroLeague seasons and teams in detail:
(2019-10) Maroussi
(2012-13) Olympiacos
(2013-14) Olympiacos
(2015-16) Lokomotiv Kuban
(2016-17) Barcelona
(2017-18) Khimki
(2019-20) Olympiacos
(2020-21) Olympiacos
(2021-22) Olympiacos
(2022-23) Olympiacos
This season, Giorgos Bartzokas has celebrated 23 victories (22 regular season and 1 in the playoffs) and we may not be in his head, but we imagine that he wants to finish the season by recording another 4.
