The reigning European champions enter the EuroLeague as one of the competition’s leading favourites once again, but this season’s version of Georgios Bartzokas’ team may need time to find its feet.
Olympiacos reached the summit of European basketball at the “T-Center” just a few months ago, then added players such as Jean Montero and Codi Miller-McIntyre over the summer. Quality is in abundance, expectations remain high, and their place near the top of the power rankings for the 2026-27 season looks fully justified. The transition from the team that lifted the trophy to its latest incarnation, though, brings challenges of its own.
Abu Dhabi offered an early indication of where Olympiacos stand today. In the EuroLeague Super Cup, the Reds beat Fenerbahce 92-90 before losing 93-89 to Real Madrid in the final. They finished preseason with five wins in six games, including those two outings in the United Arab Emirates. A positive record, with plenty of work still to be done on the court. Finding practice time to do that work, of course, is far from straightforward, given the demanding schedule facing virtually every European team.
In Abu Dhabi, as well as in the friendlies in Crete and Cyprus, there were stretches when defensive consistency was missing and others when poor decisions cost possessions. Against Fenerbahce and Real Madrid, Olympiacos averaged 20.5 assists alongside 16 turnovers per game. That is a high turnover count by the standards of Bartzokas’ teams, undermining the value of their playmaking.
Meanwhile, without Nikola Milutinov, who is struggling with tendinitis, the Reds allowed their opponents an average of 11 offensive rebounds and paid the price for those extra possessions. They conceded 24 three-pointers in total, while even effective ball pressure was accompanied by gaps in the paint that led to cheap baskets. There is also a clear effort to play faster and attack the offensive glass aggressively. For now, their ability to get back on defence is not consistently supporting that approach, leaving them exposed in transition.
The Greek coach himself described the situation, speaking of a small rebuild and highlighting the need for renewed motivation and chemistry. In essence, the experienced coach’s words capture exactly where Olympiacos are at this moment.
“Winning trophies is the best feeling you can have. Being part of such a demanding competition as the EuroLeague, we felt very happy and grateful for the opportunity we had in our lives. We need to do a small rebuild of our team, to renew our motivation. Some very important players have joined us. We have a talented team, but we need a little time to come together and build the same chemistry we had in the locker room and on the court.
“Vezenkov and Montero are such talented players. They know how to score, pass and play together. They respect each other. I can see on the court that they enjoy playing together because they recognise the quality and talent we have. It is an incredible feeling for any coach,” he said.
That reference to chemistry has a very specific basketball meaning. Thomas Walkup has departed, leaving Olympiacos without the starting point guard they had relied on since 2021. For five years, with his strengths and weaknesses, the American guard was the team’s on-court brain. He knew what his coach demanded, how the offence worked and his teammates’ habits.
Miller-McIntyre and Montero must now fill his shoes while bringing their own qualities to the position. They will need to learn when Bartzokas wants the tempo raised, where the ball should go and how to maintain the balance between individual initiative and collective execution. During preseason, the two ball-handlers appeared to be taking an extra moment to think as they tried to absorb their coach’s philosophy and demands. Their teammates, meanwhile, must become familiar with the decisions of the two new guards. That understanding develops through practices and games.
The talent of both additions warrants high expectations. Becoming comfortable within a strict—but successful—system, however, is unlikely to happen automatically. Especially when the player being replaced spent five years as the central figure in organising the offence, as well as applying ball pressure and containing the opposition’s best player.
There is another adjustment for the entire organisation beyond the court. Olympiacos will play their home games at SUNEL Arena this season, leaving the Peace and Friendship Stadium for a few months while renovation work takes place. Their fans will be there, providing the support that accompanies their European nights. Even so, “nothing feels like home”.
Familiarity with an arena involves the everyday feel of the surroundings, basketball routines and the comfort a team develops by playing there over and over again. Olympiacos must build that relationship with their new home while also developing their connections on the court. It is another change to factor into the opening stretch.
Last but not least, the schedule makes this process a challenge. The reigning European and Greek champions will play six road games in a month and just two at home. Vitoria, Kaunas, Bologna, Valencia, Barcelona and Istanbul make up an itinerary of repeated journeys and difficult tests.
At a stage when Bartzokas needs practice sessions to address spacing, ball movement, defensive communication and offensive combinations, the calendar limits the time available. The players will have to absorb their instructions and put them into practice almost immediately—and away from home, at that. Such a start could expose the flaws of a team still taking shape.
Three consecutive home games against Olimpia Milan on October 30, Crvena Zvezda on November 6 and Dubai on November 12 will then offer a different set of circumstances. By that point, the Reds will have undergone a difficult opening test, with the pressure to deliver results accompanying their efforts to adapt.
Olympiacos, then, have one of the strongest teams in the competition and rightly belong in the title conversation once again. The backcourt changes, the move to a different arena and the difficult schedule explain why they may need longer to develop the cohesion their coach is seeking.
The quality is already there, of course, and nobody doubts it. The task, though, is to get everyone on the same page as Bartzokas, so that all that individual talent is consistently reflected in their team play.
After all, the team’s new star, Jean Montero, has asked the fans to be patient. That is the first ingredient this season’s Olympiacos need: patience. Sooner or later, the results and “Bartzokas ball” will follow.