Once again to the Final…
The Olympiacos players knew that they were the absolute favorites against a weakened PAOK, but they also knew they had to show that on the floor from the beginning of the game, which is exactly what they did.
The “reds” did not leave any room for reaction to the guests and with Lazaros Papadopoulos reappearing after two months and without Joey Dorsey who was left out to rest, made an easy stroll against the Thessaloniki team.
The final 87-52 does not leave much room to criticism for a semifinal with Papanikolaou, Keselj and Gecevicius as protagonists.
Olympiacos got an easy ticket to yet one more Greek Cup Final which they won in the last couple of years and will once again face Panathinaikos (the game will be taking place on either the 10th or the 11th of March).
The quarters: 21-13, 40-25, 59-38, 87-52
Οlympiacos (Ivkovic): Hines 5, Law 9 (1), Antic 2, Spanoulis 2, Papanikolaou 13 (1), Mantzaris 5 (1), Κeselj 10 (2), Sloukas 11 (2), Papadopoulos 5, Gecevicius 16 (4), Glyniadakis 5, Printezis 4.
PAOK (Μarkopoulos): Κalampakas 8 (2), Stiggers 5 (1), Arapis, Aleksic 6, Duvnjak, Liapis, Kalampokis 15 (3), Pettway 5, Pappas, Giannakides, Kalles 13.
Dusan Ivkovic: The way the Cup competition is structured, I only wish to congratulate my players for qualifying to the final. We would definitely want a stronger game tonight. The team played a serious game. The first positive thing is that Lazaros Papadopoulos is again on the floor after two months of absence. Joey Dorsey got to rest after 30 days with 10 games played. And the third thing is Printezis is not seriously injured. We covered for Printezis with Hines in the first half and with Papanikolaou and Keselj in the second. There are many games ahead of us; I think the team is going to be ready for the Euroleague. I wish all the best for PAOK and that they overcome the problems they have been facing. Vassilopoulos made a great effort in January, but it’s best you speak with the doctors. He has some bone inflammation because he smacked bone on bone. After so much effort, the guy needs to get lucky and I hope that we will have him with us in about 10 days.
Μartynas Gecevicius: We confronted the game with seriousness. We want to win the Cup and we are prepared for the Euroleague game. We know that surprises are a part of this competition and that’s why we played focused, we had known that PAOK has been having problems and I think that the outcome of the game is only fair.
Soulis Markopoulos: Congratulations to Olympiacos, they won easy. We tried as much as we could. It’s not easy aiming to beat Olympiacos, but we have had some other goals of our own. We weren’t good under the basket, due to absences, but three point shots kept us in the game up to a point. Olympiacos is a set team, in good shape and can go after winning titles. We want the make the best we can despite the problems we have been facing. At the moment, Olympiacos has an advantage for the play-offs against Panathinaikos because they have the home court advantage. Giddens has left us to have surgery. It’s very difficult to add a player due to the very difficult financial situation.
Νikos Kalles: Olympiacos dominated the game. The positive aspect for us is that we tried a lot and had some good parts in the game. I hope we can increase them and incorporate them in our League games.