Bartzokas admits Olympiacos 'not ready' after pre-season friendly with Red Star

Head coach Giorgos Bartzokas admitted Olympiacos still has much work to do after a disappointing pre-season performance in the Cyprus tournament. The Greek side allowed Crvena Zvezda to shoot 70% on two-pointers and 60% on three-pointers for a large part of the game, a stark reflection of serious defensive problems. Bartzokas described the team's failures as systemic on the defensive end: "We didn't put ball pressure on, players didn't put hands on the ball, there was no cooperation or necessary focus." This is a textbook description of losing point-of-attack integrity — the most damaging failure mode for a European switch-and-pressure defensive scheme. The cascade of failures unfolded systematically: no on-ball pressure gave ball-handlers court vision, passes traveled without pressure, shooters got completely open, and confidence snowballed. Bartzokas also highlighted offensive cooperation issues, indicating this is a team-chemistry problem across both ends. Returning star Sasha Vezenkov was rated "not good," but Bartzokas immediately provided context. Vezenkov had just played his first game with teammates, trained together less than two sessions, and is playing through a hand injury. Despite overall poor performance, he still delivered in clutch moments with an and-one and a transition three — the classic pattern of a player having an off-night but maintaining high-pressure execution instincts. Tyler Dorsey sat out with planned rest, not injury. He returns Sunday against Maccabi Tel Aviv, the first real test for the team. Regarding new signings Codi Miller-McIntyre, Jean Montero and Entzai, Bartzokas declined to give specific assessments. He said players need to work more and emphasized conditioning disparities among newcomers. The answer signals the trio is still integrating, not yet at the pace the coaching staff expects. A notable detail: Olympiacos currently fields the most internationals in EuroLeague with 10 foreign players. This global talent-maximization strategy creates higher integration costs — both in on-court communication and style adaptation — directly explaining the cooperation problems Bartzokas cited. Operationally, the new SEF arena is in season-ticket sales phase, signaling strong financial commitment from the Angelopoulos family. However, Greek basketball faces domestic regulatory tensions adding off-court pressure. On the court, late-game defensive rebounding proved decisive. Olympiacos allowed three offensive rebounds on the final possession — a classic friendly that was nearly lost but shouldn't have been. Yet Bartzokas insists this is the universal reality: "No team is ready — this is the schedule that forces clubs to reassemble late." He reminded that official games begin with the EuroLeague Super Cup, the true measure of readiness, not pre-season friendlies. Olympiacos is building team-level structure, not chasing immediate results. Overall assessment shows Olympiacos rebuilding defensive identity around a new perimeter. Named weaknesses are cohesion and physical-sharpness issues, not scheme problems. Crvena Zvezda's extreme shooting splits reflect uncontested looks, not elite opponent quality — these numbers won't sustain when opponents have proper preparation time. Olympiacos' season outlook remains EuroLeague title contender tier, but the team needs time for pieces to sync. The Super Cup will be the first real test of their ambitions.