2-1 due to defense
Olympiacos lost to Anadolu Efes 83-72 and the series is now at 2-1. The next game against the Turkish team is scheduled for Friday (19/4).
The Olympiacos players lacked necessary concentration in defense at the beginning of the game and it was thus Anadolu Efes managed to lead 19-17 at the first quarter. The Turks succeeded in leading the game exactly where they wanted it to go in the second quarter and eventually, they were leading by 8 (37-29) at the end of the first half.
Defense continued being bad in the third quarter and the hosts were even leading by 19. Giorgos Bartzokas shuffled the deck and throwing Sloukas, Law, Papanikolaou, Perperoglou and Hines on the floor closed in the margin at 7 (71-64) at 35’, but it was there when the team lost once again touch with the score and the eventually lost the game 83-72.
The next game of the series will be taking place on Friday (19/4) at 20:00 in Istanbul.
Τhe quarters: 19-17, 37-29, 65-50, 83-72
Αnadolu Efes (Mahmuti): Farmar 17 (3), Vujacic 8 (2), Erden 15, Tunceri, Sipp 7 (1), Gonlum 4, Savanovi 15 (1), Gordon 13 (1), Barac 4.
Οlympiacos (Barztokas) : Hines 10 (5reb), Law 19 (3), Antic 5, Spanoulis 4, Perperoglou 9 (1), Shermadini 2, Sloukas 5, Powell 4, Gecevicius, Printezis 11 (2), Papanikolaou 3, Katsivelis.
GIORGOS BARTZOKAS: “Congratulations to Efes, they played a very good game tonight. They did the small things they had to do to win the game. We weren’t mentally ready from the beginning of the game, we allowed six offensive rebounds in the first quarter and eight turnovers in the first half. All of these had been very important for us so as not to allow the opponent run the fast break. Whatever we did next was a re-acting, not acting. So, although we had the chance to come back in the game, we did not make it. I would also like to say that the refs were officiating using different standards and the level of officiating was not appropriate for a game of such importance. Congratulations to Efes, we have to chances at getting one victory and we’ll do the best we can to be mentally and physically prepared for it… We found a quintet that could play well together, they covered a ten point deficit and decided to leave them on the floor till the end. Our defense was our biggest problem tonight, we made a lot of mistakes on situations involving defense on Farmar, Gordon and we had to really be better at it. We wish to thank the fans that travelled all this way to support us tonight, they were exceptional indeed, we did not succeed in rewarding them with a victory, but we wish to thank them for their support”.
STRATOS PERPEROGLOU: “We were very bad, we played nothing like the two previous games and we allowed the Turks to find rhythm. It’s a team that in case they get into a rhythm, they can hurt you. The game was decided in the first five minutes of the second half. We tried to come back later on, but when the difference gets into such wide margins, it’s very difficult to come back. They have a lot of tall guys, they are a taller team and we lost the rebounds because we were playing with no passion. Extra possessions play a significant role and they contributed to their resilience in getting the victory. They are a 30 million euro team, you cannot underestimate them even for a minute and I think we kind of relaxed knowing that we have a 2-0 lead”.
* About 100 Olympiacos’ fans were at the tribunes of the Abdi Ipekci.
** The Presidents of Olympiacos Panagiotis and Giorgos Angelopoulos were also at the gym, together with Vice President Giorgos Skindilias.