The heart of the Champion
Olympiacos bested Red Star 66-64 in Belgrade for the 27th day of the Euroleague regular season and embraced home-court advantage. Printezis, with a replica of his Istanbul shot, gave the reds the big victory.
In a magical atmosphere in the Kombank Arena, Olympiacos made an impressive start to the game and succeeded leading 9-17 at the end of the first quarter, mainly due to amazing defense. In the second quarter, the Piraeus team, playing even better on the defensive end, made the score 17-30, keeping their opponents at eight points during that time and the margin was up to +13.
In the third quarter however, concentration was lost, defense was not up to par, and Red Star succeeded in turning the situation around and even leading 43-42 running a partial 26-12 streak. In the last quarter, the home team run a 7-0 streak in the first four minutes and the difference for the hosts was at its peak at that point (50-42). At that point, Dimitris Agravanis took over. With continuous scoring, the Greek forward made the upset and in the last offensive play and with the score tied 58-58, Vangelis Mantzaris took a shot to give his team the victory, but the ball went in and then out leading the game to overtime.
Defense was the key player for both teams and with the score tied 64-64, Green gave Printezis and assist and he, simulating his 2012 Istanbul winning shot (from the same point on the floor and in the same style) gave Olympiacos the great 66-64 victory.
The quarters: 9-17, 17-30, 43-42, 58-58, 64-66.
Red Star (Radonic): Walters 7 (1), Tompson 1, Dagubic 5 (1), Mitrovic 1, Lazic 2, Simonovic 9 (1), Jenkins 13 (1), Guduric 14 (3), Kuzmic 8, Bjelica 4.
Οlympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Green 8, Birch 2, Young 1, Papapetrou, Spanoulis, Waters 2, Agravanis 16 (3), Milutinov, Printezis 15 (2), Papanikolaou 17 (2 3p, 9reb), Μάντζαρης 5 (1 3p, 5as).
THE QUOTES
GIANNIS SFAIROPOULOS: Before I talk about the game, I would like to congratulate the Red Star fans for the atmosphere they created. Two teams that fought hard for the victory, but that also have a great relationship. It was an example of how the fans of all teams should be. We have great respect for Red Star and their fans. I think that the first half was one of our best defensive halves we have had in the three years I am with the team. We surprised Red Star , we covered each probable and improbable choice and I think that the half time result was only natural due to that performance. We talked to the players during the break and told them that it was only certain that Red Star was going to react and that happened in the third quarter when they scored 26 points. It was at that point that we got to suffer. We did not play good defense, Red Star made threes, contrary to what had happened in the first half. When they were leading by eight, Agravanis was the key, who scored 11 points in a row and changed the momentum of the game. Thanks to that, we returned to the game and fought for the victory to the end. We could have won during regulation, but we missed a shot, it was a great battle during overtime and all was decided by details. We were focused in the end, made the right choice, opened up the floor and made that great shot that gave us the victory».
Then, the Greek coach stressed that “it was a great victory, this gives us the home-court advantage. Spanoulis sacrificed himself to come and play since he had been sick the whole week. We even did not have Lojeski. I think all the players deserve to be congratulated because they gave all they had and showed a strong character. If someone would have said that home-court advantage could be ours three games before the end of the regular season, we would be happy but we’d know that it would be really difficult to pull through. I want to wish Red Star all the best”.
Asked whether he prefers any particular team in view of the play-offs, the 50year old coach explained that “we respect all team, we have the advantage, this may mean something or it may mean nothing. What we want to do is play as best as we can in the last three games and finish in the best seed possible”.
MILAN TOMIC: “For sure, the way the game evolved, it was the same way, the same point, but it was not Vassilis this time, it was Erick that gave the assist. A great play and a great shot. We need however to address the third quarter. We played excellent defense in the first half, got a 13 point lead. In general, we could not find easy scoring tonight. They were also playing very good defense, close to fouling at all times, and we made some tough shots, I don’t remember making even one easy shot towards the end. For sure, when we were trailing by 8, Agravanis stepped up and turned the game for us. He was very determined and shouldn’t he had played that way, we probably would have lost. Fatigue is a problem, Vassilis is under with a bug and Lojeski’s problem is one of those that don’t allow peace of mind and all of the above don’t allow the necessary chemistry to work well. We are managing, that’s why we are here, to find solutions. It was a great atmosphere, for yet another time it was in incredible thing, watching 25.000 fans supporting both teams. This is happening because the fans live for basketball and they go to watch all the games, either when it’s Red Star – Olympiacos or Red Star against the last team in the Adriatic League”.
KOSTAS PAPANIKOLAOU: “It doesn’t matter if I or Giorgos played well, it only matters that we won. This victory puts us in the top 4 teams for good, but we also showed character and reacted properly following the loss to Galata. I think that in the first half we played amazing defense, but Red Star came back in the third quarter, the fans entered the equation, but this is where we showed how strong we are and got the victory in a very tough court. We need to continue with the same concentration, everything is open. In the previous months, when things were not going well for me, basketball wise, a guy I love very much and tonight celebrates his birthday really supported me and this guy is my brother. I wish to thank him and wish him a really happy birthday. The fans need to understand that athletes are people too and we need support so people that support us are so important for us”.
DIMITRIS AGRAVANIS: «The atmosphere was great throughout the game, the fans created a great atmosphere, it was hard even listening to one another. I don’t want to talk about myself, but to the great counter attack we run and the great shot Giorgos made that gave us the victory».