Won in Lavrio with super defense
Olympiacos played amazing defense in the second half against Lavrio and beat the local team 71-55 for the 18th day of the Basket League SKRATS.
The Greek Champions were not focused in their defense during the first half, while they were shooting extremely poorly and were making a lot of mistakes. The home team managed to lead 35-32. In the second half, however, the players of Giannis Sfairopoulos turned the switch on and with a partial 20-39, won the game 55-71. Odom-Johnson and Papanikolaou were the top scorers with 12 each.
THE DEFENSE: In the first half, most of the times, the players of Giannis Sfairopoulos did what their coach does not want to see. Without concentration in many points the Olympiacos players received easy points, lost rebounds and found themselves trailing 35-32. In the second half, though, the Greek coach witnessed a lot from what he wants to see from his players. Pressure on the ball, good block outs, rebounding and not a second of relaxation.
THE OFFENSE: Percentages were poor in the first half, but the situation got better in the second. Olympiacos scored 39 points then and reached a rather easy victory.
THE MVP: Vangelis Mantzaris had a solid game. The 26 year old Olympiacos guard finished the game with 8 points and 10 assists.
KEEPS, FORGETS: Certainly forgets the performance of the first 20 minutes. Vangelis Mantzaris performance was a positive elements following a shaky period as well as the performance of Johnson-Odom and Papanikolaou.
THE POINTS
The quarters: 17-17, 35-32, 49-58, 55-71
Lavrio (Serelis): Keselj 10 (1), Sakellariou 5 (1), Nixon 7 (1), Perrakis 9 (1), Kaklamanakis, Kroobaly 10, Tsiros 2, Nikolakopoulos, Giannakopoulos 1, Kaponis, Barlos 11 (1), Mpempis.
Οlympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Papapetrou 5 (5reb), Spanoulis 5 (1), Milutinov 5, Printezis 9 (1), Mantzaris 8 (2 3p, 10as), Odomo-Johnson 12 (4 3p), Hunter 7, Strawberry 6 (1), Tsairelis, Agravanis 2, Hackett, Papanikolaou 12 (2).
THE QUOTES
GIANNIS SFAIROPOULOS: “We knew that Lavrio is a competitive team. We had said the same thing to our players in the first round. The result of the first game was plasmatic in terms of how Lavrio had played. Lavrio gave a hard time to Panathinaikos, PAOK and Aris. When we were leading 3-11, we thought that everything was decided. They made some big buckets and gave us a hard time next. However, we played our game in the second half. Everything started with our defense, we improved our percentages in the offense and this happened because we only received 20 points in the second half and did what we were supposed to do. We won rather easily. Congratulations to Lavrio, they play very good basketball”.
Asked about Mantzaris and his great performance against Lavrio, the Greek coach said that: “Mantzaris is a player that we believe in a lot, he’s a key player for us. He’s a player that we know how well he can play. He began the League in an impressive manner and supported the team on both ends of the court, even when the team was facing a lot of injuries. It’s only natural that his performance wasn’t up to his standards for a while, but we see him improving again. We believed in him, we believe in him and we will continue doing so”.
ΚOSTAS PAPANIKOLAOU: “It was a game when we showed two faces. We have to be ready throughout each game and we weren’t focused enough in the first half. We were influenced by the result of the first round. But the coaches had told us that they are a totally different team when playing at home. Congratulations to Lavrio for their fighting spirit”.