Great victory!

Olympiacos beat Panathinaikos Superfoods 77-69 for the 16th day of the Euroleague and has now an 11-5 record. Ioannis Papapetrous was the MVP for the 'reds'.

In the first quarter, the 'reds' succeeded in keeping their opponents at a very low score and lead 17-11 by its end.

In the second quarter, the Piraeus team continued in the same offensive pattern, but lost focus in regard to their defense, resulting in the hosts having a one point game (38-37).

In the third quarter, Papapetrou, Young and Green offered offensive boost and the score was 55-50 at 30'. Ioannis Papapetrou was doing everything on both ends of the floor in the fourth quarter and led his companions to the 77-69 victory.

THE POINTS
The quarters: 17-11, 38-37, 55-50, 77-69
Οlympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Green 10 (2), Birch 11 (5/5  2p., 9 reb.), Young 6, Papapetrou 13 (3), Spanoulis 12 (8/8 1p., 7 as.), Waters 3 (1), Αgravanis, Μilutinov 2, Printezis 7 (2/9 2p.), Papanikolaou 6 (1), Mantzaris, Lojeski 7.
Panathinaikos Superfoods (Pascual): Singleton 10 (1 3p., 6 reb.), Nichols, Rivers 23 (3), James 24 (1 3p., 6 reb.), Fotsis, Pappas, Feldein 5 (1), Gentile, Bourousis 3 (1), Calathes 4.

THE QUOTES
GIANNIS SFAIROPOULOS: It's a great victory for us, because every victory for the Euroleague is great, but we were also playing against our great opponent. It's a victory that gives us momentum for what comes next. It's certainly very important that we once again beat Panathinaikos. The game was a derby at first. We played very good defense in the first quarter and kept them at 11 points, but unfortunately our concentration wasn't as sharp in the second quarter. We have had a small lead and talked with the players at half-time telling them that we need to be more focused in our defense. The third quarter was a very close one with the two teams being very nervous, but despite not finishing some easy offensive plays, we kept Panathinaikos at 13. In general, our defense was the key to the game, so we controlled it and when we got into rhythm, we scored at fast break and with long range shots. That gave us the lead to the victory. Congratulations to all our players. You know I don't like to talk about injuries, but we have had problems in the last fifteen days that did not allow practicing together. I hope our injured players are better and I would like to thank our medical staff and physiotherapists for that. We need to continue humble, with hard work and improve so as to challenge all three titles. I would also like to thank the fans for the atmosphere; they helped us whenever we needed a boost. We need them by our side on every game", the Olympiacos coach pointed out.

On the six victories in a row and how important his is in view of the two games between the two teams that follow he said: "The streaks you count, mean nothing to the players and I. Each game is different and takes a different approach. The important thing for us is following the plan. We are not interested in winning streaks, but rather to be ready to play each time as we should".   

Asked on whether he was expecting a victory without a lot of scoring from Spanoulis, Printezis and Lojeski he replied : "I count on all my players. We certainly have sove leaders that are "barometers" on the team, but whoever underestimated the rest is in trouble. Olympiacos is a team and that's what we have been building all these years that I'm here, but also before I came. We have players that can step up on any occasion and I have faith in all of our 16 players".
On the wider rotation in contrast to the opponent, he pointed out: "I think that taking advantage of ones roster is a very important element. Of course Panathinaikos had two players scoring 47 out of a total of 69, but we dealt with them as a team. Everyone gave their best and we just received 26 points in the second half. Everyone needs to come in and give their best".

About Waters: "I wanted him with the team because he can offer a lot in both defense and offense. He's an experienced player that was able to compete in such a game after only five days with the team, contributing for ten minutes. He also helped with defending on James and as a point. The more the time passes he's going to be assimilated better and will be able to help even more. Today and with only a few days with the team circumstance was against him».

Finally, for the defense on Calathes and the 24 points James scored, he said: "Calathes is the key player for Panathinaikos, he's their leader, but we succeeded in taking him completely out of the equation. This was the key to our victory. James is a more offense oriented player, we definitely needed to be more effective in guarding him, but the thing is we did a good job against Panathinaikos as a whole».

XAVI PASCUAL: «Congratulations to Olympiacos for the victory. WE lost many chanced to score under the basket in the beginning and were lacking in organization. In the second quarter, we got better on both ends of the floor and that's why half-time was almost tied. We missed the chance to win in the third quarter, when we missed some easy baskets and made some mistakes, while Olympiacos scored twice at fast break. In the fourth quarter, when we had a three point game, we had our chance, but lost control in the last three minutes and lost».

KC RIVERS: "It's tough. We lost again. It was a difficult game. They built confidence and momentum and got the fans to enter the game equation. It's tough playing in this court. We need to improve, make fewer mistakes and move the ball better in transition. We play as a team; it was a war like game. If you are tired, you don't play. We wanted to do the best we could. It was tough after Olympiacos got into rhythm. We are still in the regular season. It's a problem, but we need to move on. This defeat cannot stop us. We need to be prepared and fight. We are going to be upset about losing tonight and tomorrow. Then, from Monday on, we need to be working hard again to make the Top 8. It's a team sport. Mike and I were into rhythm, but it happens. We had our chances to win".

IOANNIS PAPAPETROU: "We received easy points for big parts of the game. We tried to match up for this disadvantage. It's a great victory till the next one. We have been working hard and I think these victories come from team work".

DOMINIC WATERS: «We are two steps ahead of Panathinaikos. We want to distinguish at the top. It's a good start. We had wanted this victory to climb up the rank. I'm learning everything, I'm trying to improve. It's going to take me ten more days to feel fully confident. The coach has been helping me out, he wants me to be confident. I'll be ready».