Return to victories with a superb defensive play
Following two losses in a row for the Euroleague, Olympiacos bested Barcelona (59-52) for the 7th day of the Euroleague RS and now holds a 4-3 record. Vasilis Spanoulis was the top scorer with 15 points.
The game began with Olympiacos leading 21-16. The defense of the Greek Champions was amazing in the second quarter, the Catalans did not succeed in scoring two digit numbers during that time and hence Olympiacos was leading 32-25 at half-time.
In the third quarter, the ‘reds’ played a great game on both ends of the floor resulting the stabilization of the margin above 10 points. Spanoulis was creating for his team mates when not scoring and thus the 49-38 score was only natural. In the last quarter, the players of Giannis Sfairopoulos had the complete control of the game with Olympiacos taking the 59-52 victory.
THE POINTS
The quarters: 21-16, 32-25, 49-38, 59-52
Οlympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Green 9 (1), Birch 7 (7reb), Papapetrou 8 (2), Spanoulis 15 (3 3p, 6as), Milutinov 2, Printezis 7 (1), Papanikolaou, Mantzaris 5 (1), Hackett 5 (1), Lojeski 1.
Barcelona (Bartzokas): Rice 11, Holms 13 (2), Dorsey 9, Vezenkov 3 (1), Ericsson, Oleson 2, Koponen 6 (1), Perperoglou 4, Tomic 4.
THE QUOTES
GIANNIS SFAIROPOULOS: “It’s a very important victory for us, because we needed to react following two losses on a row. We played an excellent game in defense, we were very focused and defense was the key to the victory. We played our best defensive game up to now in the season and put the basis for winning early on keeping Rice without scoring during the whole first half, while forcing them into 11 turnovers. We kept Barcelona at scoring only 24 in the first half, way below their average scoring. We kept control of the game throughout with a secure lead and the way we were playing we deserved to win. We cannot have games like the one in Vitoria every day. Maybe the fans like big scores, but we scored big against Galata and lost. Barcelona is a team that brings low scoring and either they win or lose they do so with small margins. They are a very good team and the important thing for us is that we controlled the game for 40 minutes and drove their defense out of rhythm. We shaped the game at our pace. We chose secure attacking in order to finish plays. If we were a little better from the perimeter, the margin would have been better, but maybe we were a little pressured from losing the two previous games, maybe we lost more energy in defending. Since we have improved on our defense, now we need to get better in offense as well. You are always looking to write about something. It was my decision for Young not to play. Why aren’t you asking about Athinaiou?”
IOANNIS PAPAPETROU: “We played very good defense tonight and managed to show reaction after two consecutive losses for the Euroelague. It’s not that we played bad in offense, but we were shooting poorly and missed a lot of open shots, while we were hasty in trying to finish the game. The important thing is that we won and it doesn’t matter if we scored very low, because we scored plenty against Galata and still lost. We are forgetting about this game and we are now focusing on the game against Panathinaikos. It's going to be a completely different game and I think that the coach is going to make all necessary adjustments so we need to be properly prepared”.
VANGELIS MANTZARIS: “We had some problems with orienting our defense in previous games. However, we showed improvement against Apollon Patras and we were very good tonight. Especially in the first half, we played excellent defense. We stopped Barcelona’s pick n’ roll, as well as Rice who is very important to their game. I think the difference could have been greater. In the second half, we had some blank spaces, but we kept leading the score and got this important victory. It doesn’t matter how many points you score, we scored a high score against Galata and only 59 tonight and won. I prefer winning. The game against Panathinaikos has nothing to do with the League game we played before. This game is going to be played in OAKA. Panathinaikos is going to have Nichols who hadn’t played in the League game and they have a new coach who has a different approach to the games. It’s not a simple Euroleague game, it’s a game between two ‘eternal’ rivals and these are the games we live for’.
GIORGOS BARTZOKAS: “I wish to wish Olympiacos all the best and thank the owners of the Club for the great honor they presented me with. It was very important to me. Professional sports has become very tough and you need to contain your emotions. I need to say that tonight was a better day for me than the last time I came here. It was a very strange game. Both teams did not play well. We should have played better to win. We shot very low percentages, we made a lot of turnovers, we missed about ten lay-ups without any pressure and I cannot see how we could have won. Olympiacos played very strong defense. I think it was a fair result. We miss five players and this is not a one game thing but a continuous problem for a lot of games now and this affects our game. We are a divisive people since ancient times. Since the Athens – Sparta thing… We have a value crisis. I enjoyed basketball last season in Russia and I’m enjoying it again this year in Barcelona. This doesn’t mean I don’t love Greece, its people or the Greek teams. However, when abroad, you can only focus to the sports aspect of the game”.