A solid show
Olympiacos spent a pleasant evening against Rethymno Cretan Kings, won 83-58 and holds a perfect record after 10 games for the Stoiximan.gr Basket League.
The first quarter was amazing for the 'reds' offense wise, since they only missed one 2-pointer and got a 31-18 lead at the end of the first quarter. They continued equally well in the offense and even better in the defense and the Greek Champions forced their opponents into scoring a mere 10 points in 10 minutes and hence half-time ending 50-28.
Giannis Sfairopoulos tried different people and line ups in the third quarter, had the chance to rest key player in view of the game in Kaunas and Olympiacos was leading 63-46 at 30'. In the last quarter the outlook was the same. The Piraeus team players focused on their defense and with a multi-faceted offense maintained the difference above 20 points at all times and won an easy victory.
THE POINTS
The quarters: 31-18, 50-28, 63-46, 83-58.
Οlympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Spanoulis 8 (2reb, 8as), Milutinov 4 (3reb), Printezis 8 (3reb), Papanikolaou 8 (3reb), Αthinaiou 8 (1 3p, 4reb, 3as), Green 9 (1 3p), Birch 8 (6reb), Young 9 (2reb), Τoliopoulos 5 (1 3p, 4as), Papapetrou 13 (3reb), Αgravanis, Lojeski 3 (1).
Rethymno Cretan Kings (Κonstantinidis): Christodoulou 8, Fitzpatrick11, Talton, Giannopoulos 16 (4 3p), Κravic 4, Κottas, Ρazis, Arnold 11 (1), Kamperidis 3, Theodoridis, Evaldas 3 (1), Edwards 2.
THE QUOTES
GIANNIS SFAIROPOULOS : "Before I start analyzing the game, I would like to say that we dedicate this victory to Daniel Hackett, we all saw how he got injured, he'll be away for two months. We dedicate him with this victory and good performance from the depths of our hearts. We wish he gets back with us soon. We started the game well, we set the rules of the game from the beginning, playing good basketball, with plurality in offense, with 31 points made in the first quarter, we were also very good with our defense, especially in the second quarter, when we only received ten points. We built a significant difference; we only lost focus for 3-4 minutes in the third quarter. We made a good game in general and a good game for the fans to watch. Wish all the best for Rethymno".
VASILIS TOLIOPOULOS: "We knew that Rethymno is a very good team, we wanted to be serious throughout the game, we did it for the most part, we somewhat lost our concentration in the third quarter, gave it a little slack, but we returned with good defense in the fourth quarter and took the game where we wanted it to go".