A winning game in Pylaia as well
Olympiacos bested PAOK 89-84 for the 11th day of the STOIXIMAN.GR Basket League and continues to be first and undefeated in the Greek League. A superb performance by Lojeski. Patric Young decided the game.
Olympiacos made a great start in the game with Kostas Papanikolaou being the absolute protagonist on both ends of the floor. Hence, the Greek champs were leading by six in the first quarter, but PAOK closed it leading 21-20. In the second quarter however, Mat Lojeski was on fire. With continuous scoring by the American - Belgian forward, Olympiacos made a partial 23-33 score and was leading by nine at half-time (44-53).
During the whole of the third quarter, Green, Lojeski and Papanikolaou maintained the lead for Olympiacos. However, in the last quarter, fatigue and important absences took a toll, PAOK made a come back and led by one, when Patric Young took over and scoring a basket and foul gave a +2 lead for the reds. In the next play Lojeski's good defensive play resulted in a steal for Olympiacos and Young with 2/2 free throws practically sealed the victory for our team.
The quarters: 20-19, 43-52, 66-73, 84-89.
PAOK (Μarkopoulos): Κoniaris 2, Taylor 8, Μiljenovic 2, Glyniadakis 2, Sibert 8 (1), Chrysikopoulos 6, Τsochlas 12, Margaritis, Bryant 14 (1), Peiners 12 (1), Clanton 18.
Οlympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Green 13 (1), Αgravanis 8 (2 3p, 7reb), Milutinov, Papanikolaou 19 (3 3p, 4reb, 3as), Mantzaris 8 (1 3p, 4as), Birch, Young 6 (2reb), Papapetrou 2, Lojeski 28 (2reb), Αthinaiou 5 (3reb).
THE QUOTES
SOULIS MARKOPOULOS: "Officiating is a very important factor and the refs should be able to make calls using the same standards for both teams. Same nature fouls were called differently having an impact on the way the game was evolving. Refs should be facing the game from an equal distance for both teams and this was not just tonight, but in other games as well. Congrats to our players for their performance against one of the greatest teams in Europe. It doesn't matter if they were missing players, they were missing players before and they never had such a tough time. Details that actually decided the game are a matter of experience. We need to play the same way next keeping all the positive elements from today's game".
GIANNIS SFAIROPOULOS: "It's an important victory against a competitive and worthy opponent, PAOK, that is very difficult to beat, especially here. It's important that we won the game, but I can't say I'm happy with our defense, we received easy points, we allowed PAOK to score with high percentages, for a team like ours that wants to be able to win tough and strong games, this is unacceptable. We did not do a good job in defense, we were missing focus and PAOK was always finding a way to close in. We showed our experience and quality at the end, we did not panic and with good decisions got the game. Congratulations to PAOK and wish them all the best in Greece and in Europe".
On the absences and their impact: "First of all, I have said that Olympiacos is a team which I fully trust. All of my players can offer a lot on their good day. This was proven tonight, with two key players missing and without Daniel Hackett as well, we scored 89 points. I have full faith in my players, I certainly expect more from some and I don't want to use excuses with the injuries because everyone can play as good. We scored 89 points, we had a lot of solutions, Lojeski and Papanikolaou played a very good game, we had easy solutions for PAOK's pressing, but we did not find the same solutions for Tsochlas' pick n' roll which PAOK played with almost during the whole second half. We were efficient at the end and won".
On the Euroleague format: “Look, I want to comment something on that, talking about the format and whether it's good or not, playing every two or three days bears no meaning. It is what it is, we don't need to talk as much about it. Signing on to participate, we knew what we were getting into, that's why we built a 15 player roster in the summer, with players that can play at any given moment. Talking about it is tiring, it's empty of meaning. At this moment we are at war, we cannot talk about whether the war is just or not, because we just have to fight, every day. We have the play, the Spaniards have to play. What good can come if we constantly talk about it now? In the summer maybe, those who make the decisions, can talk about if something needs to be done about it. I'm not the one to make this conversation. I don't evade the answer; it's just that this is not the time to say anything. PAOK has European games as well, other teams do too. So, the teams that have the clout and the ability to play two competions need to deal with reality”.
On Hackett's replacement: "Whatever has been written up to now is not true. We haven't even looked yet. We have been getting proposals for a lot of players, but having to play the game against Zalgiris, I wanted to just focus on the game. Because coaches need a lot of time to prepare a game, to prepare the theory and scouting and practices. So, if we instead of preparing a game were watching videos to try and find a replacement for Hackett, we would be missing the point and the point is to win our games. And since we have back to back games, we are going to take our time with finding a player, because we don't want to make the wrong choice. We need to find someone that will be good fit with the team's chemistry and will have the elements we are looking for to help us out"
KOSTAS PAPANIKOLAOU: "First of all I would like to congratulate PAOK on a game well played and wish them all the best for what comes next. I think it was a close game, it was an important victory for us, but we are not a team accustomed to receiving +80 points. We did not show necessary focus on our defense. It was an important victory, but when you need to always show you are the best, you cannot allow yourself to perform like that. Good luck to Margaritis as well (i.e PAOK), I wish him all the best, we are glad he came back following such a serious injury".
APOLLON TSOCHLAS: "When the game reaches such a point, it's all a matter of choices. We did not play well in the second quarter. We got close to the score, but were unlucky at the end and lost. We came back against a very good team, we tried, but lost".