With the captain’s signature seal
Olympiacos had a hard time against PAOK, but when Vassilis Spanoulis took matters into his own hands everything came to an end and the Greek Champions won 83-76.
The ‘reds’ had a rough time against the Thessaloniki team, but they finally succeeded in winning and thus remain on the top ranking sport of the SKRATS Basket League. Vassilis Spanoulis was the MVP for the winners with 14 points.
THE DEFENSE: It wasn’t what Giannis Sfairopoulos would like to see during the first three quarters. Especially in the first half, lack of concentration cost the Greek Champions and PAOK found a lot of easy points in the game.
THE OFFENSE: For the second game in a row the ‘reds’ surpassed 80 points. All the more, they scored 25 in the last quarter.
THE MVP: Vassilis Spanoulis. The ‘Thrylos’ captain scored 14 points, 6 during the last crucial couple of minutes. “kill-Bill’ did it all and at the end took his team by the hand, as he usually does and led it to victory.
KEEPS, FORGETS: Keeps the victory that maintains the team at the top or the League ranking just like the fact that they played a game enough to keep him alert in view of the game in Moscow. Forgets the 45% in free throws, unacceptable percentage for a home game.
THE POINTS
The quarters: 23-21, 41-41, 58-59, 83-76
Οlympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Spanoulis 14 (2), Milutinov 1, Printezis 16 (1), Mantzaris 3 (1), Lojeski 17 (4), Johnson-Odom 6, Hunter 11, Papapetrou 5 (1), Strawberry 6, Tsairelis, Hackett 4.
PAOK (Μarkopoulos): Tepic 10 (2), Margaritis 6, Duvnjak 21 (4), Markovic 14 (1), Hatcher 19 (3), Liapis, Kakaroudis 3 (1), Tsochlas, Dedas 3 (1), Kottas.
THE QUOTES
GIANNIS SFAIROPOULOS: "We only get to keep the victory today. Especially the way the game evolved, it’s an important victory, but our performance does not satisfy us at all. Our defense had not had the intensity and energy it usually does. While we were good in the offense throughout the game, we were not good in the defense, which allowed the opponent to stay in the game, even lead by 6 in the last quarter. It was then that we ‘woke up’, played with more energy, made some open shots, played better defense, led by 5 and the game went our way. In a game that went this way, we are certainly happy to have won. We need to be ready to play tough games. PAOK has a unique style of play and if you don’t score and you are not ready the problem passes on to you. I believe that the determination we showed in the last six minutes was crucial. We need to fix the way we approach such games. Our defense did not work well and the victory came from our offense”.
The Greek coach also commented on the officiation of Mr. Stamatopoulos: “Before I finish, I would like to comment on a certain play that caused me to intensely protest, maybe you saw it too, a clear 2-pointer that Mr. Stamatopoulos counted as a three, I think that Mr. Stamatopoulos, who also called a few plays against us, or did not call fouls inside the post, should pay more attention to contacts and to how each player plays defense. You know that I never talk about officiation but tonight Mr. Stamatopoulos’ officiation wasn’t up to par. I wish PAOK all the best against Limoges and for what comes next in the League”.
The Olympiacos coach was asked whether his team underestimated PAOK: “When you are not mentally ready to play a tough game, PAOK plays a style of basketball that focuses on not receiving points inside the post. Hence they allow open shots. If you lose a couple, the pressure to score the next one gets bigger. And the more time passed, the problem was getting worse. You get consumed by anxiety and one thing brings another. Fortunately enough, we had players with a clear head at the end, we made some open shots and run the fast break with the shots made by Lojeski and Spanoulis, the big three pointer at the end. It’s not a matter of underestimating PAOK, I’m not looking for excuses. When you play Khimki 2-3 days before, with a lot of energy, you definitely need to restart quickly to find mental agility. This is the main thing. We did not underestimate PAOK. They gave a hard time in the first round, they allowed the game in OAKA to slip from their hands, no, we did not underestimate them. We simply lacked the necessary energy. Agravanis has the flu, he’s vomiting and runs a fever and tomorrow he will try to practice some”.
Coach Sfairopoulos dedicated the victory to the 21 victims of the Gate 7 tragedy: “What happened in the beginning of the game was very important, when both teams paid tribute to the 21 people that lost their lives at the Karaiskakis stadium. It was the least we could do. It’s a sad moment in the history of our team, each year, but whenever we think about it, we get immensely sad. We dedicate this victory, it’s exactly 35 years from the accident. The most important thing now is to always remember them and honor them. This is the reason our team played with back uniforms”.
MATT LOJESKI: «It was obviously a tough game for us. They played a great game, escpecially in the first half. We should have been more focused and not allow the opponent hope to win”.
WILLIAM HATCHER: «We knew it was going to be a difficult game. We began very wll and followed our plan for 35 minutes. But everything was decided during the last 5 ones. They did not do anything extraordinary in defense, they simply forced us to take some difficult shots during that time. But we did not play according to our plan during those 5 minutes. We came here to win, that’s what we wanted, we fought, but we did not make it. They showed their quality during that time”.
SOULIS MARKOPOULOS: «Any team that plays Olympiacos, especially in the Peace and Friendship Stadium, needs to have a great performance to stay in the game. We succeeded to a great point to follow Olympiacos. They have a very deep roster and the more time passed the fatigue was obvious in our players. We could have kept up the same tempo at the end, like we did in the previous 35 minutes. But was did not play as a team at the end and did not find open shots. I think that the three by Spanoulis decided the game. There was hope up to that point. Congratulations to Olympiacos and to my players. Good luck to Olympiacos in both Greece and Europe”.