Legendary reaction!
Olympiacos, following three losses in a row, reacted against Khimki, won 89-77 and has a 3-3 record after six rounds for the TOP16.
The game was not going well for the ‘reds’, Khimki was playing their game and was even leading two digits, with half-time closing at 38-43. However, in the second part of the game, the Greek champions were impressive on both ends of the court and reached the final +12 (89-77).
THE DEFENSE: In the first half, the Russians mainly succeeded in playing their game. However, in the second half, and especially in the fourth quarter, the Piraeus team defense was incredible. And hadn’t the Kurtinaitits players scored 8 points in 90’’, they wouldn’t have scored more than 10 in the whole quarter.
THE OFFENSE: On ‘fire’ throughout the game. Apart from the second quarter, the ‘reds’ scored at least 20 points in each quarter.
THE MVP: Giorgos Printezis. The ‘lieutenant’ was unstoppable. With 30 points and 9 rebounds he was at the verge of double-double. “Print” once again proved to be the best forward in Europe.
KEEPING, FORGETTING: Keeps a lot. Keeps beating the first team of the group and with a difference that might play a role at the end (+12), keeps the incredible performance by Printezis and Hackett, keeps the fans support. With that kind of fans by its side, ‘Thrylos’ has nothing to fear. The only thing to forget from tonight’s game is the first quarter’s defense.
The quarters: 20-24, 38-43, 62-60, 89-77
Οlympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Johnson-Odom 5, Hunter 10 (10 reb.), Papapetrou 4, Spanoulis 14 (3), Strawberry 5 (1), Milutinov 2, Printezis 30 (3/5 3p., 9 reb.), Agravanis, Mantzaris, Hackett 14 (1), Lojeski 5 (1), Athinaiou.
Κhimki (Kurtinaitis): Rice 14 (2), Sved 11 (1), Dragic 11 (1), Augustin 13, Koponen, Vialcev 7 (2), Sokolov 3, Ilnicki, Monia 12 (4), Todorovic 1, Hunnycut 5 (1), Seleketo.
THE QUOTES
GIANNIS SFAIROPOULOS: «It’s a very important victory that brings us back to positive results after three losses. We beat the first team of the group, a very talented team, that has proved to be among the strongest team of the group in the TOP16 and that’s why the importance of the victory is double. It also counts double for our psychology, since when we got stuck once or twice in the first half and the opponent took a lead, we succeeded to come back showing a lot of heart. All the guys gave 150% and they deserve congratulations. Our victory shows the way we need to start the games. We can improve more, we need to have more duration in our games. We scored 51 points in the second half, starting from our defense. We won a good victory, but nothing more, we need to stay focused, because the group is very ambivalent. We played with a shorter roster, became more versatile, and made some changes in match ups putting different players on key players of the opponent. That changed the tempo, made us more pressing and the players played with all they had. The effort was a team one. I would like to thank our fans for their amazing support till the end of the game. We need them by our side because we want to protect our home court, with our fans pushing us to win”.
IOANNIS PAPAPETROU: «We played tougher in defense in the second half. We stopped Khimki, run the fast break and scored easy baskets. We had a lot of energy from the middle of the third quarter on. We brought energy as a team and this is our major weapon. We made mistakes, we missed shots, but our energy gave us the victory. We tried to play hard from the beginning. The victory is very important and we fought to the end to get it. After our two victories for the TOP16 everyone was talking about the first spot of the group and after the three losses everyone said we were not going to qualify. Everything changes in the group. We are only focusing on the next game and we are aiming to win”.
RIMAS KURTINAITIS: «I would like to congratulate Olympiacos for the victory. We controlled the game for three quarters, but Olympiacos has experienced players that never stopped trying and finally won”.