A show for Olympiacos, a record for V-Span
Olympiacos was impressive against Anadolu Efes, won 90-66 for the 2nd day of the Euroelague and celebrated Vassilis Spanoulis breaking the record of 3,000 points scored in the history of the competition.
Olympiacos was the boss from the beginning of the game. Never looked back at the score, made things simple from moment one and took a 28-16 lead. Efes showed some reaction in the second quarter, but it was still that the Greek Champions had the absolute control of the game.
The 'reds' played a great offensive game in the third quarter and made the score 62-53. In the last quarter, the players of Giannis Sfairopoulos completely dominated and with a partial 28-13 reached an easy 90-66 and got their first win for this season's competition.
THE POINTS
The quarters: 28-16, 41-33, 62-53, 90-66
Οlympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Spanoulis 17 (9as.), Printezis 15 (6reb.), Lojeski 14, Green 11, Papanikolaou 8, Milutinov 8 (7reb.), Papapetrou 6, Hackett 5, Birch 4 (8reb.), Mantzaris 2.
Anadolu Efes (Perasovic): Osman 22, Tomas 10, Heurtel 3, Honeycutt 6, Omic 2, Korkmaz 2, Dunston 5, Brown 10, Granger 6, Cotton.
THE QUOTES
GIANNIS SFAIROPOULOS: "I think we played a very good game, we began very well on both ends of the floor and adjusted greatly against a very good offensive team. We stopped them from going to a high score, they were shooting with low percentages and on the other hand we had a very good offensive rhythm. It's very important that we allowed them a mere 30% with 2pointers and we never relaxed, Efes scored 14 points in the fourth quarter and we scored 49 in the second half. Congratulations to all our players, we should remain focused on our goals in view of the upcoming games. We wish to thank our fans for their presence, it's important that they come to the gym to support us in very difficult times financially wise. We pay them back by winning and we hope we play in an even fuller gym in the future".
On the key for the victory: "It's really important to stick to the plan. We wanted the victory because we started the Euroleague losing by a wide margin that we did not deserve. That made us more determined and we witnessed a very good reaction from our team. I want everyone o the team continue the same way. We have done nothing yet. We have just made one good victory for the Greek League and one for the Euroleague. We haven't even turned a curve yet"
On the schedule that holds back to back difficult games: "It's the first time this season that we play a third game in one week. We have a game against Doxa Lefkada on Saturday and we need to be ready to cope with a difficult program. It's something new for Greek standards and it's going to happen a lot during the season. We need to be very careful and focused".
On not using Patrick Young: "Young wasn't feeling well tonight so I didn't use him", while referring to the evolvement of Milutinov he pointed out: "Milutinov is very talented, he has made a lot of progress, he's only 22 and he's better than last year. We believe in him a lot and we expect a lot. He needs to keep working to get even better".
Finally, talking about Spanoulis and the role of the rest of the players, he said: "Spanoulis was on a great day, he's the leader of this team. Printezis is a pillar within the team but we acknowledge everyone else. For instance, I'd like to talk about Hackett and Papanikolaou. Papanikolaou in particular, he completely neutralized Heurtel and Granger. His role is equally important and he's getting better. Lojeski also helped coming from the bench, Green is a natural scorer that gives us boost, Birch got the rebounds, blocked… It's doesn't matter who scores, but rather that everyone contributes to the team. All our 15 players are valuable to the team".
VELIMIR PERASOVIV: "Olympiacos deserved the victory. In the first half they had energy which we were lacking. We tried to come back to the game, but we made some mistakes and our effort remained incomplete. The difference got too big in the last five minutes for the game. We weren't aggressive enough and it only shows in the mere two steals we had in the game".
VASSILIS SPANOULIS : "The most important thing for me is to have helped my team win. Records are great, but the team is greater. It's a team sport. I wish to thank my team mates and my coaches for helping me improve my game. I try to be team player all my life. Some times, it depends on the defense. I may need not score, but rather gather 3 or 4 players on me, so that my team mates are free to score. Some times, I get the chance to score. I'd like to say again that the most important thing for is to the find the solutions so that my team can win".