A new victory for Olympiacos

Olympiacos beat Armani Jeans Milano 91-81 for the 3rd day of the Euroleague Regular season and is now at a 2-1 record. Eric Green was the top scorer.

The game got on a great start for the Giannis Sfairopoulos' team. The initial 13-4 is proof  of that, but they did not go on the same way and the Italians "answered back" with a 0-9 streak for a tied score (13-13). Spanoulis and Birch however, formed the 25-19 of the first quarter.

The game did not change into the second quarter. The offense was the primary weapon, Hackett was organizing and scoring at the same time, the same with Mantzaris and Green came in and offered offensive boost with the score of 46-41 at half-time doing injustice to the Greek champs.

In the 3rd quarter, the American guard continued 'firing' at the basket, Lojeski followed up, Brich dominated both posts and Spanoulis had an excellent cooperation with Printezis in the third quarter that found Olympiacos at +9 (70-61). The last quarter completed belonged to the 'reds', Birch was having a party at both rackets, Green and Spanoulis went on scoring and the difference was at +16 with the final 91-81 depicting how the game went.

 

THE POINTS
The quarters: 25-19, 46-41, 70-61, 91-81
Olympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Green 16 (4), Birch 12, Young 2, Papapetrou, Spanoulis 16 (1), Agravanis, Milutinov 4, Printezis 9, Papanikolaou 4, Mantzaris 8 (2), Hackett 10, Lojeski 10 (2).
Armani Milano (Repesa): McLean 2, Gentile 12, Hickman 6, Kalnietis 4 (1), Radulica 14, Dragic 13 (1), Macvan 4, Pascolo 2, Sanders 8 (1), Abass, Simon 16 (2).

THE QUOTES
GIANNIS SFAIROPOULOS: «I would like to congratulate my players for the victory. It was a difficult game, because Armani was coming from very good results and had been undefeated. Our victory is very important. Armani is totally different this season in comparison to previous years, they are a much better team. We tried to point this out to our players and they responded. I think we controlled the game at its most part. Armani was close to the score for the biggest part of the game and this was until the third quarter, but it was then that we got a two digit lead and completely controlled the game during the last minutes. Each Euroleague victory is a badge, but we need to keep going because we have a game in Vitoria in two nights and we need to remain focused on this new challenge. I would like to thank our fans for their support even at moments when Armani was trying to come back. Difference is not that important. We made some mistakes at the end. Armani played a clever game, but we 'read' the game better in the second half. The way Armani was playing limited our assists, but when you score 91 points you don't have a problem in the offense. We just had to go a lot one on one».

KHEM BIRCH: «It was an important victory. We know we need to win our home games if we are to move forward with the Euroleague. We faced some problems in with their offense in the first half, but coach told us at half time to play harder in defense. We did it, we made some good shots and took the lead. We now have time to rest and see how we are going to steal a road game. The game against Baskonia is not easy, they are a good team, especially at home».

DANIEL HACKETT: «Armani was in great shape coming from two important victories. We had some difficulty in the first half and received many points on open court and following offensive rebounding. We took care of that however in the second half, played with more concentration and won. We now have a difficult game in a few hours in Baskonia. There is not a single easy game this season with the Euroleague».

JASMIN REPESA: «We play in two days again and there is no room to cry or complain, but the truth is we played a very bad game. Olympiacos played very well and deserves congrats. When you play a team that has been playing together for years and they only have a few new players, we should have played as strong as the opponent. If you don't respond to the dynamic style of Olympiacos you have a problem 100%. You also need to control the tempo of the game, because they have a lot of depth. As long as we were disciplined, we were in the game, but when we made some hasty shots, Olympiacos ran the fast break. We had to take care of the rebounds and we did not, they killed us in the post. These three elements decided the game. Also, we received a three at the end of the third quarter, while we had a foul to give. This was a disaster»