Missing players - not an issue
Olympiacos was not hurt by the many absences against Aris. The 'reds' continued their winning streak in Thessaloniki besting Aris 69-58 and reaching a 24-1 record for this season's Basket League SKRATS.
Our team did not begin the game well at all, especially in defense. The 'reds' weren't focused in defense and hence Aris was able to lead 24-16 at the end of the fourth quarter.
Οι παίκτες του Γιάννη Σφαιρόπουλου ήταν ιδιαίτερα άστοχοι πίσω από τα 6.75 και στη δεύτερη περίοδο και έτσι πέρασαν τη μπάλα κοντά στο καλάθι. Χάντερ, Παπαπέτρου και Αγραβάνης βελτίωσαν την εικόνα της ομάδας και στις δύο μεριές τους παρκέ και έτσι ο Θρύλος κατάφερε να κάνει επιμέρους σκορ 6-16 έπειτα από εφτά λεπτά στο δεύτερο δεκάλεπτο και έτσι ο Ολυμπιακός πέρασε μπροστά με 30-32 με τους γηπεδούχους, όμως, να αντιδρούν και να προηγούνται στο τέλος του ημιχρόνου με 38-36.
The players of Giannis Sfairopoulos were shooting extremely poorly behind the 6.75 m. arc into the second quarter as well, so they passed the ball into the post instead. Hunter, Papapetrou and Agravanis improved the team performance on both ends of the floor and 'Thrylos' succeeded a partial 6-16 score seven minutes into the second quarter with Olympiacos taking the lead (30-32) and the hosts nevertheless reacting and finishing half-time with a two points game (38-36).
The Piraeus team improved their defense even more compared to the second quarter. The 'reds' allowed the 'yellow' to score only 11 points during 10 minutes and with a partial 11-19 'Thrylos' gained the 49-55 lead.
Continuous threes by Lojeski and Katsivelis made the score 52-63 at 33'. 'Thrylos' continued with a great defensive game and the difference went to +15 (52-67) one minute later. Actually everything was decided at that point and the only thing left was for the final score to be written on the board.
The quarters: 24-16, 38-36, 49-55, 58-69
Aris (Priftis): Pasalic 3 (1), Dimas, Reed 13 (2), Thomas 4, Poulianitis, Charisis 9, Vezenkov 19 (2), Mourtos 10 (2), Symtsak, Adekgboye.
Olympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Petway 2 (6reb), Hunter 6 (4reb), Dunston 6 (4reb), Spanoulis 7 (1 3p., 8as), Papapetrou 10 (2reb), Sloukas 14 (1 3p, 5reb, 3as), Lojeski 9 (1 3p, 7reb, 3as, 1bl), Christodoulou, Printezis 5, Agravanis 5, Kavvadas, Katsivelis 5.
GIANNIS SFAIROPOULOS: «We received some easy points in the first quarter and Aris gained a deserved difference because we lacked focus in our defense. However, from the second quarter on, we only received 34 points in three quarters. Our defense was excellent, built a difference and got the victory. Congratulations to the coach for the effort he has been making and I wish them all the best. The League needs all the teams to be strong. Aris and AEK and PAOK. This is only going to benefit the league, if they get even stronger and this is going to improve the teams and the players even more due to the competition. It is certain that if these three teams are re-enforced, the league can only get better and the competition will be greater" .
Asked on whether the TOP-16 games against CSKA Moscow are going to be a 'guide' in view of the Madrid semi-final, the Greek coach said that "the games we have played against CSKA don't mean anything. Final Four games are a totally different thing. We want to play our game, despite the fact that CSKA is a great team with a very big budget. We have a great advantage that is the experience our players have from such games".
ΙOANNIS PAPAPETROU: "We want to continue the good rhythm we have been into during the past few weeks. We had a bad start, but we played better in defense later on, played our game, that is good defense and running the fast break. Congratulations to Aris for their effort, we have one more game to play, we want to win and finish the regular season with only one defeat".