A tornado in Croatia
Olympiacos was victorious in the Cedevita home court, edging the home team 84-62 and thus succeeding his sixth consecutive win for the Euroleague. This one has also been the fourth victory on the road for the Greek and European champions.
The game did not start well for the ‘reds’, and the Croatians took advantage of it to lead 9-2. The Piraeus team had an immediate reaction and with Perperoglou, Printezis and Spanoulis taking action, Olympiacos was leading at the end of the first quarter 21-18.
The Croatians kept trying in the second quarter, but it was a matter of time for Olympiacos to finish the game. Which actually happened in the third quarter when the Giorgos Bartzokas players, playing amazing defense, managed to broaden the difference to +16 (64-48 at 30’) and practically ‘sealed’ victory.
Olympiacos offered both substance and show in the last quarter, the Cedevita fans applauded for many of the ‘reds’ plays and the final 84-62 is the best indicator for what happened Thursday night in Croatia.
Τhe quarters: 18-21, 37-40, 48-64, 62-84
Cedevita (Petrovic): Wright 11 (1), Suput 9 (1), Babic 2, Andric 3 (1), Suton 3 (1), Bilan 6 (11 reb.), Ilievski 14 (2), Gelabal 2, Nurkic 4, Green 6 (2), Bazdaric 2.
Οlympiacos (Bartzokas): Hines 10, Law 2, Antic 7 (1), Spanoulis 14 (2), Perperoglou 12 (2), Sloukas 5 (1), Mavroeidis 2, Gecevicius 3 (1), Powell 9 (5reb), Printezis 11 (1), Papanikolaou 6 (1), Mantzaris 3 (1).
GIORGOS BARTZOKAS: “It’s our sixth victory in a row for the Euroleauge and the fourth on the road. We are in good shape and this is a good thing for sure. For Cedevita, the game was a final and that’s how the game looked like in the first half. We had a good reaction against coach’ Petrovic zone and won. I’d like to thank the crowd for applauding us during the last minutes of the game. I repeat that there are 10 good teams with the Euroleague and the final result will depend on many factors, such as injuries or the shape the teams are going to be in. Our goal now is to make the play-offs and that’s what we are aiming for, not further ahead. Our bad start has been a discussion topic in Greece as well. After the premiere against Caja Laboral, we have had three very difficult games and especially the second one against Panathinaikos, which you all know of its meaning. We have had ten bad days for the Euroleague competition and that was it. We calmed down, talked and don’t forget that we have also replaced a player. The difference with the first game against Cedevita is that the game in the Peace and Friendship Stadium had been something like a final for us; we were under a lot of stress. We had a good reaction at the end, got the victory and then showed our quality and character in the following two games”.
ACIE LAW: “Coach had said that Cedevita would be playing this game as if it were a final and that’s what made us start the game very focused and with lots of energy. We had control in the first half, but we entered even more powerfully in the second half and that was really important”.