Filip Petrusev is playing for Red Star, on loan from Olympiakos and – according to the agreement the two sides had – the Serb has no right to play in their match tonight.
Speaking about tonight’s match, Filip Petrusev did not hide that he would like to play against Olympiakos, while he mentioned Piraeus, Sasha Vezenkov, and his relationship with Giorgos Bartzokas.
“I had a virus, but luckily it came at the… right time. I’m already better and I’ll be over it soon. Anyway, I have no right to participate in the game with Olympiakos. I’m sorry I can’t help, because Olympiacos will also be weakened and I believe I would play well because I know them, both the system and the players. I could help the team a lot, so I’m sorry I won’t be able to play. However, I will be able to give advice to my teammates and reveal the secrets of Olympiakos”. Petrusev told Meridian Sport.
“Olympiacos will not have a very important player, Fal. So apart from Milutinov they have no other center and will have to improvise, something they don’t do often. I believe we have a chance to foul Nikola, take advantage of our advantage and dominate under the basket.” he added.
In the current situation, with Fall and Wright out of “battle” and Mensah not yet integrated, Petrusev would be useful to Olympiakos. “Yes, probably Olympiacos would like to have me now. I didn’t leave just because of the participation time. I was playing for Olympiakos at the beginning of the season when there were injuries, but even then I had the desire to return to Red Star and I didn’t give up, so it finally came true.” the Serb said.
At the same time, he referred to his relationship with Giorgos Bartzokas, who had been in the spotlight during his previous visit to Belgrade. “Coach Bartzokas is who he is. I want to point out that he is a very nice person. Sometimes he gets carried away with emotion on the court, but he’s really good to work with. He is a real champion and I think it will be a good atmosphere in the stadium. I don’t think it will be like with Partizan and there will be no incidents, because the two groups are brotherly. I expect a quiet match from that point of view”, commented Petrusev.
As for Olympiacos and its advantages: “I believe that the great strength of Olympiakos is the individual quality of its players. Also Barzoka’s system has not changed, the principles are the same and it gives players the ability to utilize their attributes. The most important thing is to know their strengths and weaknesses. That’s why we have to force them to take the most difficult shots, which they don’t like.”
Finally, he made a special mention to Sasha Vezenkov: “Vezenkov is the best player of Olympiakos and the team is completely different when he plays. When he is often absent the team does not know what to do, it happened in the match against Partizan. His presence will make things much more difficult for us”, he said.