An ideal premiere
By playing great basketball for most part of the game, Olympiacos edged Barcelona 74-62 for the Euroleague TOP-16 premiere.
The Piraeus team was leading from the first minutes of the game. In the second quarter, ‘Thrylos’ ran a partial 25-12, completely imposed its game and never looked back.
THE DEFENSE: It’s the best defense in Europe and it was proved one more time. Olympiacos stopped Barcelona at 62 points, Navarro, one of the most prolific scorers of European basketball at only one point and took apart any offensive system and plan made by Xavi Pascual.
THE OFFENSE: The offense worked as a clock. All those who played also got to score, Spanoulis with 11 points was the top scorer with the Greek Champions scoring 25 points in the second quarter that is in their best period offense wise during the game against the Catalans.
THE MVP: Vassilis Spanoulis. The captain did everything needed on the floor, scored 11 points, passed 9 assists and created a major headache for Satoranski and friends.
KEEPING, FORGETTING: For sure, beginning the TOP-16 with a home victory against a mighty opponent, all the more with a +12 margin. In this ‘burning hot’ group is point is of essence maybe this +12 plays a huge role in how the group is going to be shaped. Giannis Sfairopoulos can by upset only for one thing leaving the SEF court. The difference was even bigger a few minutes before the end, but Barcelona managed to clip it. Should this not had happened, we would be talking about the perfect game for the ‘reds’.
THE POINTS:
The quarters: 14-14, 39-26, 56-40, 74-62
Olympiacos (Sfairpoulos): James 6 (2reb.), Hunter 10 (5reb.), Papapetrou 8 (1 3p., 7reb., 2t.), Spanoulis 11 (1 3p., 9as.), Strawbery 8 (1 3p., 5reb., 3as.), Milutinov 2 (2reb.), Printezis 7 (5reb., 3as.), Agravanis 6 (2 3p., 3reb., 2as., 2bl.), Mantzaris 6 (2 3p., 3reb.), Hackett 8 (2 3p., 2st.), Αthinaiou 2 (2reb.)
Barcelona (Pasqual): Doellman 4, Ribas 8 (2), Lawal Σ., Αbrines 3 (1), Navarro 1, Satoransky 12 (1), Vezenkov 3 (1), Ericsson, Samuels 7, Oleson 5, Perperoglou 3, Tomic 16.
THE QUOTES:
GIANNIS SFAIROPOULOS: “It’s a very important victory and a very good beginning for the TOP16, in a marathon of difficult games. It was a fair victory beyond any doubt, because we imposed the rhythm from the beginning, mainly due to our defense. It’s only logical for the pressure to be on the home team and maybe that’s why we were nervous in the beginning. Our defense gave us the strength to be good in the offense as well, especially in the second period, when we broadened the margin, mainly for psychological reasons. We knew that Barcelona would try to react, but we began the second half very focused, controlled the rebounds, made easy shots and the team showed elements of its potential. We definitely can and want to play better. The important thing for me is that the players did their best and they all need to know that they matter to the team. Congratulations to our players for keeping Barcelona 20 points below its average scoring levels.”
DJ STRAWBERRY: «It was tough game. We knew Barcelona is exceptional in offense. We wanted to play aggressive defense and we did it, we made our shots and got a huge victory”.
DIMITRIS AGRAVANIS: «It was a very important victory. We knew it’s necessary to defend your home court in this phase of the competition and we did that beating Barcelona. It was important stopping Barca at 62 points”.
XAVI PASCUAL: “Congratulations to Olympiacos, they were better tonight. I think that the game was decided in the first three minutes of the second half. Olympiacos got 11 offensive rebounds in the first half and we did not improve in that aspect. That meant nine more offensive plays for them. This shaped a plus 13 margin in the first half. We controlled defensive rebounding in the second half, we had 11 more than Olympiacos, but we lost because we were shooting really poorly. We had to play two very tough games in 48 hours against two very strong opponents. I’m the coach, I cannot decide on the schedule. Euroleague and ACB are responsible for that. During this TOP16 round, only Barcelona had two play on road only 48 hours after a League game. But it still is not excuse for me”.
STRATOS PERPEROGLOU: “Olympiacos was more combative on the floor. We were lacking energy and lost the rebounds. Defense is the trade mark of Olympiacos, that is definitely on the right track. We are focusing on the rest of the games in our group. We have to win all our home games and look for some huge victories on the road”.
ALEXANDER VEZENKOV: “Olympiacos was faster and more determined in everything they did on the floor. They had more energy, more passion. It’s not an excuse being tired, we are professionals and we were not good tonight. If Olympiacos says they could have won with a broader margin they are right. We could have lost with more than 20 points. Olympiacos is a traditionally tough team, the “choke” the opponent. We scored 26 points in the first half, while we score more than 40. They played very hard and we couldn’t cope”.