12/12 and goes on…
Olympiacos bested PAOK 78-70 and reached 12 victories in 12 games in all competitions. The Back2Back European Champions are at present the only undefeated team in the Greek League.
Olympiacos took a 4-0 lead in the beginning of the game, but the wrong offensive choices and the poor defense played by the Back2Back European Champions allowed PAOK to lead 4-7 after five minutes into the game.
Printezis scored five points in a row and put his team ahead in the game (11-9), but poor shooting was what followed, defense lacked focus and Olympiacos was trailing at the end of the first quarter 16-20.
Following a partial 2-9 streak in the first three minutes of the second quarter, Olympiacos was trailing by 11 (18-29). The red defense got significantly better, Printezis and Mantzaris took action in offense and the difference was cut to five (24-29) with a 6-0 run in favor of the Back2Back European Champions. Printezis was having his own offensive “party” and thus the team of Giorgos Bartzokas turn the situation around and was leading at half-time 37-36.
The defense played by the players of Giorgos Bartzokas was even better at the beginning of the second half. Olympiacos received only seven points in six minutes and had a six point game at 26’ (49-46). Nevertheless, a new episode of minimal concentration in defense during the last four minutes of the quarter caused that it ended 56-55.
The Back2Back Champions of Europe dominated both ends of the court in the first half of the last quarter. Olympiacos became even better in defense, offense worked well and with a partial 10-3 the team of Giorgos Bartzokas was leading 66-58, five minutes to the end. With Bryant Dunston having scored 12 points the ‘reds’ succeeded in sending the difference to two digit numbers (71-61) for the first time three minutes before the end of the game. Olympiacos sustained the difference and sealed the victory.
Τhe quarters: 16-20, 37-36, 56-55, 78-70
Οlympiacos (Bartzokas): Petway, Law 12 (1), Dunston 13 (3reb, 3bl), Spanoulis 2 (5as), Perperoglou 11 (1), Lojeski 5 (4as), Begic 3 (7reb), Printezis 21 (2 3p., 11reb), Αgravanis 2, Μantzaris 9 (2 3p, 5reb, 2st), Κatsivelis.
PAOK (Markopoulos): Payne 6, Cooper 18 (4), Charalampidis 12, Tsochlas, Τsairelis 10 (1), Dedas 5, Margaritis 7 (1), Kalles, Bogris 12, Kaselakis.
GIORGOS BARTZOKAS: “I think it’s obvious we had a wrong approach to the game compared to PAOK. We made wrong and hasty offensive plays in the first quarter. It was wrong of us to underestimate PAOK that was undefeated up to now. We came into the game with no focus. We chose different offensive tactics later on, with the back against the post. Lack of concentration was also obvious in the number of missed free throws. If we want to be first at the end of the Regular Season, we cannot afford to lose any game till the end. Congratulations to PAOK and Mr. Markopoulos for the very good work he’s been doing with PAOK. The way you approach the game brings relaxation and then what the opponent shows on the floor brings pressure. Players that have good career shooting percentages have not shot well tonight. We’ll see how we began the game on video tomorrow and see what went wrong. The way we began and the way we conducted our offensive plays needs to be analyzed. I think that Sloukas will begin training tomorrow. We decided he needed some rest and I think he will be playing on Friday. We sure need to manage the situation since one of our players will be off for a month. Our intention is not to sign a new player, this is not a final decision, I’ll have to talk with the administration as well, but this is our intention at the moment”.
BRYANT DUNSTON: “We did not start the game well. We made a lot of mistakes. We made a lot of mistakes on both ends of the court. We got the victory tonight from our offense and rebounding and not from our defense; we hadn’t been good at it”.
GIORGOS PRINTEZIS: “We had expected PAOK to be very competitive. There is no excuse for the way we started the game. However, we showed to have character in the end and won. There are no excuses; we have to play 100% in all games. I don’t think we have had a lot of ups and downs up to now, but no one has won a title in November. We have been travelling a lot, we have had many injuries, but we have to learn from difficult situations and become better”.
SOULIS MARKOPOULOS: “Congratulations to Olympiacos on their victory. We lost too many defensive rebounds. That’s where Olympiacos won us large. We tried to keep Olympiacos far from their good game; we tried to not allow them to run. We got tired in the last quarter; Olympiacos ran the fast break and got the victory. We have to continue. You play basketball with the players you have at your disposal. I believe my players have been really trying hard and I wish and hope to continue this way till the end of the season”.
DJ COOPER: “We fought as a team and did the best we could against an excellent team. We have to look ahead now since we have continuous games”.
GIORGOS BOGRIS: “I think we were focused on the game for 40 minutes, minus some dead moments. Olympiacos made some big shots and won. We keep the performance, I believe in the team and I think that we are going to continue the same way. We all play for our team mates and our coach. We don’t have anyone standing out; we all play for one another”.
Highlights... Photo Gallely... {myFlickr}feed=photoset, photoset_id=72157637565778876, layout=table, columns=3, style=css6, gallery=lightbox{/myFlickr}