Thrylos storms away
Olympiacos was impressive against Kavala, took a 115-61 victory and remained at the top ranking spot of the Basket League SKRATS.
Olympiacos was a force of nature against Kavala. The Greek Champs offered a compact show and reached 20 victories after 21 games for the Basket League SKRATS. From the beginning of the game the players of Giannis Sfairopoulos were dominant on both ends of the floor and had no trouble at all reaching victory.
THE DEFENSE: Giannis Sfairopoulos saw his players play according to plan for 30 minutes. Except for the second quarter, when Kavala scored 25 points.
THE OFFENSE: The 115 points scored by Olympiacos against the team of Steve Giatzoglou is the best offensive production of the season for the Greek Champs. Six players scored above 10 points, with Giannis Sfairopoulos watching eleven out of twelve players used scoring.
THE MVP: Printezis and Papanikolaou share the title. The two Greek forwards were impressive on the floor. They were majestic on both ends of the floor and together they got to score 33 points and grabbed 18 rebounds.
KEEPS, FORGETS: Keeps the excellent reaction after the bad performance against Barcelona. Also the fact that players who seemed to be in a bad phase lately seem to be finding rhythm in just the right time, before the first final against Laboral Kutxa. Forgets the bad defense of the second quarter.
THE POINTS
The quarters: 33-12, 60-37, 83-41, 115-61.
Οlympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Spanoulis 13 (1 3p., 8as.), Strawberry 19 (4), Milutinov 6, Printezis 15 (11 reb.), Mantzaris 16 (4), Odom 4, Hunter 10, Papapetrou 8 (1), Mouratos 3 (1), Αgravanis, Papanikolaou 18 (2), Αthinaiou 3 (1).
Kavala (Giatzoglou): Laser 7 (1), Williams 14, ΜcKee 4, Gkelios 2, Kroma 10 (2), Staboulis 9 (1), Kostov 15 (1), Kalaitzidis, Giannakidis, Livas.
THE QUOTES
GIANNIS SFAIROPOULOS: «Before I begin, I would like to pay my respects to the great Steve Giatzoglou who is a great fixture of Greek basketball and Olympiacos. For us, who are younger, it’s important to see him next to us, to show our respect and never forget the history of these people even today. It was a game that could give us the chance to react after Barcelona and fix our weak points, our mistakes, respecting the opponent and a team that following a change of foreign players has been playing a whole new kind of basketball in the last six games having won two and lost another four with less than 10 points. So, we respected both our opponent and ourselves. It was good that some players found rhythm and this is the most important thing to us. We are now focusing on the game against Laboral, we have a series of six more games, four of which at home and two on the road. That means that we want our fans to be by our side, to support the team, help it, because I believe in it, I believe we can do what needs to be done. We can react and play well. The whole effort that is going to start in two days will be the right one and we will react”.
On the shots taken by Papanikolaou and Mantzaris, the Greek coach said that: «we tried to give plays to players that we believe in. We tried to give minutes to the rest of the guys on the team, apart from Spanoulis who is our leader, or Printezis who is experienced and Mantzaris and maybe Hunter who is on the team for the second season, because the team needs all of the players available. The team needs them all and everyone needs to stay together so as to fight for what comes next”.
Asked about what shape the team is in and what is the reason it plays not up to par, Giannis Sfairopoulos answered that "it’s a fact that we don’t play well at some games and the responsibility is completely mine. I am the coach of this team. I am responsible for them not playing well and I am the one to find the solution. I believe that we are doing a quality job and this will show. I have faith in my players and the roster is now even deeper thanks to the efforts of the Presidents with a players that is going to help us as well. It’s in our hand to change this situation and I believe that we have the quality and experience to change our team image and in this game we want to make the start. Look, right now Olympiacos has many young guys at the moment, Olympiacos is a team at the highest level and uses young players. People who watch the team may be forgetting that Milutinov is 21, Agravanis is 21, Papapetrou is 21, Mouratos is 19 and Toliopoulos is coming behind them. Young guys need to pay attention and wait for their chance. This is what Mouratos did today, this was a beginning for him. They are at the beginning, all the young guys need to be humble, stay focused and not let their heads above the clous”.
VASSILIS MOURATOS: «Our goal today was to react. Kavala is an opponent that deserves to be respected. We wanted to prepare the best we can for the next game. I’m very happy to have played. I tried to follow the plan and I’m happy to be able to help the team as well”.