Return to victories
Olympiacos beat Maccabi Tel Aviv at the SEF 88-80 for the 4th day of the Euroleague and returned to the path of success.
The guests took advantage of our team's numb beginning, "struck" from the perimeter and got a +7 difference (11-18, at 7'). Blatt's players did not show the necessary patience in the offense so as to move the ball correctly and make good choices… So, despite closing in at 2p. (16-18) mainly thanks to individual efforts by Nigel Williams-Goss, they allowed Maccabi to maintain control up to 11' (18-24). The line up with Mantzaris, Toupane, Vezenkov, Timma and LeDay "functioned" well on both ends of the floor and it was thanks to that Olympiacos succeeded in gaining the lead following a 11-0 streak (29-24, at 13'). The People's team tied the game 32-32 at 16', but Giorgos Printezis took over then and the 'reds' regained control closing the first half with a 45-37 score in their favor.
With pressing defense and good offensive choices, our team increased the distance to +15 (54-39, at 22'). Maccabi reacted, again "striking" from the perimeter and closed in 59-52 at 27'). Giorgos Printezis was the one to signal the counter attack with a spectacular dunk… Olympiacos was patient when attacking, Vassilis Spanoulis found target from behind the 6.75m. line, and the difference was once again two digits (68-55, at 29'). The outlook remained the same in the 4th quarter… David Blatt's players maintained the difference to two digits up to 37' (79-67). However, the guests made their final counter attack at that point, taking advantage of the gaps in the Olympiacos' defense and their dominance with offensive rebounding, closing in at 6p. (83-77, 36'' to the end). Axel Toupane made a three with 12'' on the clock and the game was over…
The quarters: 18-21, 45-37, 68-57, 88-80.
Olympiacos (Blatt): Williams-Goss 14 , Τoupane 15 (4), Spanoulis 16 (3 3p., 5 as.), Τimma 3 (1), Μilutinov 2, Strelnieks, Vezenkov 7 (8reb.), Printezis 13, Papanikolaou 6(1), Mantzaris, Leday 12 (3/4 2p, 6/8 ft)
Μaccabi Τ.Α. (Spahija): Ray, O'Braynt 12 (1), Caloiaro 6 (2), Roll 12 (2), Kane 22 (3), Tyus 2, Dibartolomeo 12 (1), Cohen, Black 10, Zoosman 4
"I'm proud of how my players reacted"
David Blatt was happy with how his players reacted following last week's loss: "It was a tough game. I think that both teams played well. There was a point in the game when we got control and succeeded in playing the way we want to, but it wasn't easy to maintain the difference. Maccabi Tel Aviv is a very strong team, they were missing two key players and I sure that the more the season progresses they are goint to be doing much better. As you all know, Maccabi has all my respect. I'm very proud of the way my players reacted following the last week's loss and this is a testament to our character".
Asked on what it is that his team needs to improve on, he replied: "Consistency... You talked about defense. We played two poor quarters defense wise and two great ones. I feel that consistency is something built with time, with hard work, I'd like to think that it's something coming from coaching. However, I'm happy with my players' devotion. They want to be good, they want to be a good team. That's how they've been behaving at practice every day and each time they step on the floor. I believe that this consistency is going to come, because the effort is there, just like the devotion is".
On whether team work on both ends of the floor is the new Olympiacos' trademark, he said: "I'm not trying to seperate myself from any other coach or any other team had been here before me. It's just that this is who I am as a coach. O'm coaching a group of players that we decided, along wiht the administration, to bring here to play a certain way and as you can see this is what they've been doing... But your observation was on point. We play with a wide rotation because we play at a very high tempo. So we need the players to be ready to come in and contribute important minutes... We don't want to have six-seven players dividing minutes. This would not allow us to play the way we want".
When asked to answer when Olympiacos would be in position to win from his defense, he made clear that: "We won the last game against Ifaistos. We contained our opponent to 46 points. We also beat Kymi and they scored 66 points. That was very good. I'll say this... It doesn't have to do with how many points... Many times, it has to do with ball possession and speed and that means if the tempo is fast then the other team is also going to score more. It has to do with percentages, rebounds, tunrovers...".
The coach of Maccabi, Neven Spahija, pointed out: "Olympiacos was better tonight. We played a good second half, but not that good as to surprise Olympiacos, that played very smart. If you take a look at the stats, you will see the difference in the fouls that caused us many problems and sent them to the free throw line. I think that the difference was too big from the first to the second half. We played smarter, but as I said, to win over Olympiacos we need to be playing like that for forty minutes, not for twenty. As a coach with a lot of experience in my career, I knew that without Pargo and Wilbekin that would be hard. I don't have to tell you how important they are to us. When something like that happens, you need to prepare differently. Unfortunately, this did not work for me... it's going to be difficult, let's be honest... Without them both we don't have a play maker to lead the team and it's difficult to play under these circumstances. If Spanoulis and Williams-Goss weren't playing for Olympiacos, then they would be having a very hard time".
Zach Leday: "Each time we play defense, this helps us a lot. We found rhythm, but defense is the base we can rely on. The night belongs to many players, a lot of us helped scoring. Everyone can come in and help. I'll keep trying to give my best and do whatever I can for the team. I'm giving something different and I want to continue getting better, I want to become the best".
Nigel Williams Goss: "Olympiacos found the solutions from the energy we found from our defense. When we pressed, we made some successful fast breaks, against a very good team as Maccabi is. We have had some ups and downs, but it's only logical since it's still very early. Olympiacos will be getting better as time will be going by. We have had two digit score by five players and this is very important so that Olympiacos got the victory".