Olympiacos now faces one sure route to the playoffs: beating Fenerbahce Ulker in Istanbul this week and Khimki Moscow Region at home in the Top 16 finale. The Reds will rely on the experience of 10 players who won the Euroleague title last season, among whom veteran big man Pero Antic is a pillar on and off the court. Antic has come off the bench this season for 6 points and 3.5 rebounds over 22 games and remains one of the leaders the rest of the Reds rally around as they look for their eighth consecutive playoffs appearance. "Making it would be a dream come true." Antic told Euroleague.net. "For us it would be like the cherry on the cake after all our hard work of the preparation period with a new coach, a new system, a few new players who are great."

Pero, Olympiacos faced do-or-die situations all last season and survived. How much confidence does that give you and your teammates now as you try to survive again to reach the playoffs?

"That gives us a lot of confidence because we are all experienced players in Europe. But also gives us an added responsibility because everybody tries to defeat the defending champion. We want to prove that we were not champions by luck last year, but by hard work, you know."

Like last year, Olympiacos again overcame a slow start in this Top 16 to win the next 6 out of 7 games. Do you guys play better with your backs against a wall?

"I don't know about that you should ask the coach! I think that last year was very different from this year because last season, with less games and less wins in the Top 16 you made it to the playoffs. But this year, we have four teams tied for second position in our group. I think that we play, and I don't know why, much better away at this time of the year. We play with a little pressure at home, I don't know why, but we must focus on this because we will have a very important game next week."

Some of the team's big Top 16 road wins, like in Siena, Khimki and Tel Aviv, came with rallies in the fourth quarter. What makes this team strong playing from behind?

"Playing from behind... I think that's because in this team we have great individuals but also with great chemistry. I think that's the key. We support each other, you know. It doesn't matter if we trail by 20 or we lead by 20. We keep playing the same way and we never give up. That's one of the reasons we are winning some games after having a few ups and downs, which is normal."

This week you visit Fenerbahce Ulker, a team that's out of the playoffs but playing its last Euroleague home game this season. Does that make Fener more dangerous?

"Fenerbahce Ulker has been a dangerous rival since the start of the season but I don't know why, they had bad results. They are the team, I think, with the biggest, or one of the biggest, budgets in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague with big names, it just didn't work like it was supposed to for them. But I am sure they will try to win at home, to prove to their fans that they should support them for the rest of the year in the Turkish championship and because of that I think it will be a very difficult game in Istanbul."

Does travelling to Istanbul, as you did twice before this season, make you remember what the team did there a year ago, or do you try to block it out and focus on this year?

"Last year is last year, like you say. If we think about what happened last year, then we are surely going there with a bad mentality. Last year was last year, and this year is what counts now. Last year was great for us, we had great success, but after that you have to try to upgrade, to go one step further. We will go there for a win, like always, I think it's going to be a great game."

Team leader Vassilis Spanoulis has said that "everybody has his role and plays the way he has to play". Which is your role with the Reds?

"My role is rebounding, to play defense, to score when I am supposed to score, but definitely everybody in the team has theirs. For instance, the young guys have to fight more. Everybody fights for each other, that's what having a role in a team means. In each given moment what you need to do that's best for the team. That's when the team succeeds, like last year, or like it's happening now. Because we have players that can all score 40 points a game, but we're going to lose the game if we don't play as a team. Vassilis, the leader of this team, we have been friends for a long time. Since 2001 we have known each other. It's a big pleasure to play with him and the rest of the guys."

Speaking of Spanoulis, how does it feel to play with him and what kind of leader is he, one who uses more actions or words?

"He is also a very hard worker, a very professional basketball player. He also helps mentally, especially the young players. But also the not so young. For instance, him and me are the oldest guys in the team, and he also comes to me to talk, to tell me about a couple things I should fix or focus on to be better for myself and for the team. It's not by luck that he has been chosen as one of the top European players right now, or MVP or all these things. That's the hard work that he is doing and, like I said, it's a huge pleasure for me to be at his side in the same team."

When you played for Lukoil Akademic, you talked about missing Athens from your AEK days. What is it about Athens that makes you love it so much?

"My first European experience out of my country was AEK in Athens. It was the other side of the city but again, it was Athens. I made all my best friends here. I learned to play with Bourousis, Zisis, Tapoutos, Spanoulis when he played Maroussi... You know, we were like little kids. We hung out together for four years and we had very good chemistry in the team. The first year we won the Greek championship with AEK, so it was like a dream come true for me. First of all coming to a great team like AEK at the time, which now, by circumstances is in the second or third division, it's a very big pity for Greece. We had great chemistry with players I had seen on TV and now I was playing with them: Komazec, Dikoudis, Betts, Kakiouzis... That happened in Athens and that's why I always missed Athens and that is why I am feeling great here."

Getting to the top is tough but staying there is harder. What would it mean for this group of players and the club to get to the playoffs and keep challenging for another Euroleague title?

"Well, it would be a dream come true. That's the goal of a big team. Olympiacos is a big team and always strives for big goals, every season. For us it would be like the cherry on the cake after all our hard work of the preparation period with a new coach, a new system, a few new players who are great. It's going to be very hard. We are going to try, we will never give up and whatever happens, we will know that we tried hard."