Olympiacos head coach Georgios Bartzokas says he isn’t concerned about the so-called curse of top-seeded teams failing to win the EuroLeague title, emphasizing that his squad is fully focused on securing a win Thursday against Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Olympiacos Piraeus head coach Georgios Bartzokas shared his thoughts with Greek media ahead of Thursday's final EuroLeague regular season game against Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Bartzokas was asked about his team’s motivation heading into the final regular season game, as well as the so-called 'curse' that has seen top-seeded teams fail to win the title in the modern EuroLeague era.
The Olympiacos coach made it clear he isn’t concerned with superstitions, viewing the top spot instead as a well-earned reward for his team’s hard work throughout the season.
Olympiacos Piraeus / Schedule
ALBA Berlin
Olympiacos Piraeus
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv"Obviously, it doesn’t ultimately offer anything substantial, because we don’t know who will be seventh or eighth. Even if we did know, we wouldn’t try to choose—we’ll try to win," Bartzokas said.
"In the past, I might have paid attention to that sort of thing, but not anymore. You simply can’t ask your team to go out and lose on purpose," he emphasized.
"Finishing first in such a tough EuroLeague—where so many teams are fighting just to reach the play-ins, not even the play-offs—and seeing which strong teams have already missed out, I believe it’s a form of validation for our players’ hard work all season."
"Of course, we want to finish first. We’ll have to think carefully about our opponent in the playoffs, but honestly, they’ll have even more to think about—because we finished first. That’s how we see it. We have confidence, we believe in our team, and that’s how it should be," he added.
With a win over Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday, Olympiacos would lock up the top seed in the EuroLeague standings. However, with numerous scenarios still in play, their playoff opponent remains unclear until the final round of the regular season concludes.
