A defeat and end for the Cup competition
The Olympiacos players shot very poorly and Olympiacos eventually lost 70-64 to Panathinaikos, thus forgoing the remainder of the Greek Cup competition.
The 'reds' began the game better and led 8-2. The game however was quickly balanced and the first quarter ended 14-12. The Greek champions continued with bad execution into the second quarter and half time found the two teams tied 26-26.
The guests got a five point lead in the third quarter, but 'Thrylos' reacted and tied the game with a three by Agravanis (44-44). However, Olympiacos was especially edgy and wasn't finding any target into the fourth quarter, something that the guests exploited upon and a partial 2-17 (44-61 at 37') actually decided everything.
The quarters: 14-12, 26-26, 44-44, 64-70.
Olympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Young 2, Papapetrou 6, Spanoulis 2, Strawberry 4, Tsairelis, Milutinov 2, Printezis 19 (1), Agravanis 6 (1), Mantzaris 2, Hackett 4, Lojeski 14 (2), Athinaiou 3 (1).
Panathinaikos (Djordjevic): Pavlovic 8, Jankovic 12 (1), Fotsis 2, Radulica 4, Feldein 14 (2), Diamantidis 16 (1), Gist 4, Calathes 6, Kuzmic 3.
GIANNIS SFAIROPOULOS: «We unfortunately did not start the season well, we did not start the way we wanted to. We wanted to win this game, advance with the Greek Cup, however, the way we played we allowed our opponent to build a difference in the fourth quarter and win the game fairly. Congratulations to Panathinaikos, I believe we can play better in defense, but I think that our problem tonight was with our offense because Panathinaikos chose to play with two players on the pick n'roll and the other three inside the post and they allowed many free shots, that however, make you anxious and nervous. This weakened our defense, we allowed many easy baskets in the fast break and unbalance with our defense. We have a lot to learn from this game. We want all our players to get incorporated in our philosophy and we work on that so that all our players play up to their potential. Many new and good players that we trust have joined us and they are going to help us. When something. We are ready yet to react when things do not go exactly according to plan. But we are going to learn to do so".
SASA DJORDJEVIC: «It's clear that it's a great victory for us. I want to be clear on that, playing in an empty gym was good for us. We had to play the champions in their home court and we had to be ready, to be aggressive and give all we had from moment one. I'm glad my players understood that and were absolutely ready. I had to two tough trips in China and Moscow, but they helped us to create chemistry, we had some problems against Printezis and Lojeski, but managed to balance the game and win. I'm very happy for that. It's my job to keep my players' feet on the ground".
MATT LOJESKI: «They played better than us, were more ready, we did not play well. It was disappointing start for us. We did not show what we wanted to. They were more aggressive, we should have been hungrier given what happened with the Cup last season, but we weren't and lost".
DIMITRIS DIAMANTIDIS: "You all understand that a game between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos is very important, we are happy to have won. Both teams are not ready, this was obvious on the floor, and is a victory that takes to the next round of the Cup. It's the beginning of the season, we have to play a tough game against Aris and we want to try and improve through practice and learn one another. Congratulations to all the guys on the team, we go on".