One step away from Istanbul

Olympiacos did its part and with the awesome support of 12,000 fans reached an easy victory 75-55.

The Dusan Ivkovic’ players began rather nervously in offense, but showed excessive will and passion in defense. The “red” defense was “bone breaking” and Kyle Hines took over leading in offense. Spanoulis and Mantzaris paced the tempo and the rest executed well.

Olympiacos finished the first half ideally, but also began the same way in the second half. It was then that the foundations to make 2-1 were set and now the “reds” are only one victory away from Istanbul.

Τhe quarters:14-12, 32-21, 48-30, 75-55
Per quarter: 14-12, 18-9, 16-9, 27-25
Οlympiacos (Ivkovic): Hines 15 (9 reb.), Antic 6 (6 reb.), Spanoulis 2 (6 assists), Dorsey, Κeselj 2 (7 reb.), Gecevicius 5 (1), Glyniadakis 2, Printezis 4, Papanikolaou 9 (1), Μantzaris 9 (2), Sloukas 11 (2), Law 10 (1 3p., 6 assists).
Siena (Pianigiani): ΜcCallebb 15 (1), Zisis 2, Andersen 12, Rakosevic 4, Cararreto, Ress 8 (2), Thornton, Lavrinovic 4, Stonerook 6 (2), Aradori 4, Μoss.

DUSAN IVKOVIC: “I believe this game has been our best in the series yet. We played they way we should have. We completely controlled the game. We began at a high tempo, but missed a lot of easy shots and made many mistakes at fast break.

However, when defense got into rhythm and we only received one basket. We received 30 points in three quarters and it was somewhere there the game ended. Both teams presented unusual rosters. We played up tempo, ran a lot, passed 23 assists, made just 7 turnovers, and as in the 2nd game we grabbed 18 offensive rebounds. This shows team work and this is going to help us in the fourth game against a very good and experienced team. We have a bad experience from last season but we are a different team now. We have to prepare the game very well. We have to prepare the game very well. We have a serious problem with Dorsey who lost control when he fell and with Printezis who hurt his ankle. We have to move on…

The gym was packed and we need to congratulate our fans. I hope they are with us at the next game as well. My players offered a great show, only few teams in Europe can offer one of the likes. That’s why I’m so happy.

Last year we may have had three better ball handlers, however, we have had more mistakes at the same time though. We worked a lot on that matter especially with the young kids. That was a very important aspect of controlling the game. We a younger and better prepared team, no doubt. It’s obvious that this is our big advantage”.

ΚOSTAS SLOUKAS: “We won due to excellent team defense. We put a lot of energy in the game and controlled their offense. Our fans gave us a great boost; they had been our 6th player. My weak point is defense, but with the help of my team mates I can cover for it. We have ambition and we want to reach Final-4. There is one more game left and we’ll do our best to qualify”.

ΚOSTAS PAPANIKOLAOU: “These games are a matter of the heart. We began well, but then we fought so as not to let them believe they could beat us even for a moment.

The fans that packed the gym helped us a lot. I hope they are with us for the next game as well. The triumph will be Friday. Nothing is over till the next game. Now that we have momentum and good psychology, we have to come on the floor with the same passion and show to Siena they cannot beat us”.

GIORGOS PRINTEZIS: “We won mainly due to our defense. We had energy and heart in our game. We beat them using their own weapons, because we really played physical and hard in defense.

We are ahead 2-1 and we only need one more victory to go to the Final Four” Printezis said and added: “Friday’s game is going to be even tougher and we have to be ready to cope.

We wish to thank our fans for being here. We are happy to have made the upset. Nobody believed in us in the beginning and only few people were coming to the gym, but this same team managed to have the gym packed”.