Alex Abrines, Tomas Satoransky and Nicolas Laprovittola shared their feelings about what they expect in Games 3 and 4 against Olympiacos in Piraeus.
The EuroLeague playoff series between FC Barcelona and Olympiacos Piraeus is entering its most crucial moment, as Games 3 and 4 will have the Peace and Friendship as its central stage.
The Spanish side arrived in the Greek capital with the objective of winning at least one of the two outings to recover the home-court advantage.
After managing to tie the series last Friday by defeating the Reds 77-69, three Barc a players shared with SPORT their feelings about what they expect in the next two matches to be played in Greece.
Captain Alex Abrines, who was present in the 2014-2015 payoff series, in which Barca lost to Olympiacos 1-3 with a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Giorgos Printezis in the fourth game, is aware that the atmosphere in Piraeus will be quite heated.
"We're expecting hell," the former OKC guard-forward said.
"We know what it's like to play there in the regular season, imagine in the playoffs. It will be a hostile environment. If we play like we did on Friday, when we had a good game, it won't be enough. We have to prepare well," the Spanish international argued.
Abrines isn't the only member of the current roster who was at the Peace and Friendship Stadium almost a decade ago. In that team coached by Xavi Pascual there was also a young Tomas Satoransky, who still has that contest in mind.
"There will be a great atmosphere, I already remember it from the 2015 series. It's an amazing atmosphere, Olympiacos are going to play more physical than they did at the Palau Blaugrana. If we want to be successful we have to improve our game, patience and shooting percentages," the Czech point guard pointed out.
For his part, Nicolas Laprovittola, who is looking for his third straight Final Four with Barca, awaits "a lot of noise and a hostile atmosphere."
"They'll be waiting for us to get us off the court mentally, but we have to be firm, determined, and know how to play," the Argentinian point guard stressed.
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