Easy game in Trikala
Olympiacos won Trikala 84-70 on the road for the 23rd day of the Greek League.
The game began with the Back2Back European Champions attacking in the post. Dunston and Petway were unstoppable and hence the ‘reds’ were leading 14-20 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter Matt Lojeski took over in offense. Papapetrou and Simmons offered solutions as well and thus the difference reached +16 at 17’ for the first time (21-37). In the last three minutes Papapetrou and Agravanis wrote 29-46, the score marking the end of the first half.
Olympiacos completely dominated the game in the third quarter. The Piraeus team scored 29 points in that period and sent the difference to climb above 20 points (51-75). Giorgos Bartzokas allowed some rest time for the players that bear the most wear and tear in the last games, gave playing time to those who don’t usually play and the ‘reds’ thus reached the final 84-70.
The quarters: 14-20, 29-46, 51-75, 70-84.
Trikala (Flevarakis): Evans 17 (2), Perunicic 12 (3), Ewing 9, Giannakidis 2, Petrovic 3, Porini 2, Sap 3 (1), Deligiannis 14, Matalon 3, Fountas, Panos 5
Olympiacos (Bartzokas): Petway 21 (4), Dunston 6, Papapetrou 12 (2), Sloukas 9 (1), Collins 5 (1), Simmons 6, Lojeski 10 (1), Agravanis 3 (1), Mantzaris, Kavvadas 2.
GIORGOS BARTZOKAS: “Congratulations to the coach and Trikala for the team they have made. They have a personality as a team and a tough home court. I’m happy when peripheral basketball thrives. When the difference hit 30 point, our young players made some wrong choices in both offense and defense. We are now focusing on our next game. It’s important that we did not burden our starters tonight. Olympiacos is always happy to play in smaller cities but as Kostas Flevarakis had said, this game ought to be a celebration of basketball and I haven’t seen again players and coaches being spat at the end of the game or objects to be thrown against them resulting in the injury of our physical therapist or even racist behavior against the opposing team. The other day in Malage, after a marginal game that ended in a home team loss, the friends of the hosting team were expecting our players to be photographed with. If the club of the local fans feels this is the way to go, then I pass”.
KOSTAS FLEVARAKIS: “We don’t have a lot to say about the game. It was a chance for the people to come and watch a great team that has won two European Championships in a row. I think that when the class difference is so great between the two teams and we still have expectations is a testament to the effort we made this season. We still have important games to play. The fans have been great the whole season, but there are some exceptions and we condemn any improper behavior”.
VANGELIS MANTZARIS: “We played very well for three quarters, being absolutely serious on both ends of the floor. However, we damaged our image in the last quarter and we have to think about that. We are now focusing on our next Euroleague game”.
ΚOSTAS SLOUKAS: “We are keeping the first three quarters, we then managed time so that some guys could get some rest and some others get into rhythm. All teams have ups and downs, we want to win every game and we try to do so”.