A superb defense destroyed Limoges
Olympiacos stormed through the second half against Limoges beating it 75-49 and now has three victories after four games for the Euroleague Regular Season.
The first quarter started well for 'Thrylos' that made a strong beginning in the game leading 12-6, but then poor shooting percentages allowed the French team to take the lead 16-17. The outlook remained the same in the second quarter. The Greek Champions continued shooting off target and hence Limoges was leading 28-29 at half-time.
Things changed in the third quarter. Shots were finding target, the 'reds' defense was superb and with a partial 23-13 the Greek Champions were leading by 9 (51-42) at 30'. In the last quarter the Piraeus team completely dominated both ends of the floor, kept the guests at scoring only seven points, offered a solid show and the final 75-49 was the normal outcome.
The quarters: 16-17, 28-29, 51-42, 75-49
Οlympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Young 13 (10 reb, 5st), Papapetrou (4reb), Spanoulis 10 (1 3p., 10 as.), Strawberry 12 (2as, 2st) , Tsairelis 2, Milutinov 2, Printezis 15 (1 3p, 6reb), Agravanis, Mantzaris 10 (2 3p, 3reb), Hackett 2, Lojeski 3, Athinaiou 6 (2 3p).
Limoges (Herve): Schaffartzik 6 (2), Culpepper 10 (2), Daniels 7, Westermann 4, Payne 5 (1), Boungou - Colo, Traore 8, Diawara, Zerbo 9.
GIANNIS SFAIROPOULOS: "In regard to the game, we began very focused in our defense. We made some free shots and took a six point lead. We missed some easy baskets, even a dunk at fast break and that made us nervous. It's important that defense was working well despite our not so stable offense. This is the key for me, because even you remain scoreless for two or three minutes, defense is going to keep you in the game. Our defense was superb. We talked in the locker room with the players and said that our offense was working well. Of course we were hasty in some of our efforts. We got better in the second half. We scored 47 points. I'm happy from the defensive aspect of the game and because we calmed down in the second half. It's important we have had players that scored two digits. It's also important that Spanoulis had 10 assists and Young had 5 blocks and got 10 rebounds. All the players had a role in the game and it's important that everyone gets incorporated in our game".
GIORGOS PRINTEZIS: "We should improve our game and play more evenly throughout and not have so many ups and downs. Defense is always the key and this is what we need to hold on to. We missed many free shots in the first half, even lay-ups, but we played much better on both ends of the court in the second half, became confident and made it an easy game".