Details cost the 'reds' the victory
Olympiacos lost 84-80 to Panathinaikos Superfoods in OAKA for the second final of the STOIXIMAN.GR Basket League and now the series is tied 1-1. The third game will be taking place on Sunday (June 4) at the Peace and Friendship Stadium.
Our team made a good beginning in the game with Printezis, Green and Milutinov leading their team mates in the offense to make the score 17-20. Nevertheless, loss of concentration in the second quarter hurt the defensive play and the hosts were leading at half-time 41-39.
In the third quarter, the Piraeus team was trying either with Printezis or with Green to close in, but it was Pappas and Bourousis that created a lot of problems for the guests and the third quarter was 59-53 for the hosts.
Many and consecutive threes allowed the 'reds' to come very close to turning the game over in their favor and even have a one point game following a three by Green. But it was once again that crucial defensive plays were not effective and the hosts won 84-80 tying the series 1-1.
The quarters: 17-20,41-39, 59-53, 84-80.
Panathinaikos Superfoods (Pasqual): Rivers 9 (1), Feldeine 6 (2), Bourousis 12, Singleton 9 (2), Calathes 8, James 14, Fotsis, Pappas 16 (1), Gist 2, Gabriel 8 (2).
Οlympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Green 21 (5/6 3p, 3reb), Papapetrou 3 (1), Μilutinov 4, Mantzaris 9 (1 3p, 6as), Printezis 15 (2 3p, 6reb), Birch 1 (7 reb), Young 4, Waters 2, Αgravanis 9 (1), Papanikolaou 12.
THE QUOTES
XAVI PASQUAL: «We are happy to have won. I would like to thank those who came to support us tonight. I think we came back to playing big against a high level opponent with pros and cons. We are a team that is lacking experience and we are making mistakes we shouldn't be making, especially at the end of a final. On the other hand we are a team with a heart and a lot of passion that gives it all to win. We made a lot of mistakes due to our wish to win. However, we were more aggressive than in the first game, more persistent and more determined and got the victory».
NIKOS PAPPAS: «It was the second final and winning was a one way street, we are now going to fight the third game with our all might to make the break and come back to finish the series in this gym. It's not in our best defense that we hadn't beaten Olympiacos in a finals' series here, because we have a very tough home court. However, it seems that home courts are not of the greatest importance right now, which means we can make the break at the Peace and Friedship Stadium. We have a lot of talent in the team and anyone can step up to get us the victory. The President was not here tonight, he doesn't play, but he offers a lot of psychological support, we play for him, our coaches, the administration, the staff and anyone who is part of this family».
GIANNIS SFAIROPOULOS: «The game was decided by details. Panathinaikos made a run at the end, with a lot of lay ups on our big players. We have had the chance to stay in the game, but we missed some shots and we move on. We are focusing on the third game in our gym. We had prepared this game the best we could, it's only could that team work was present even without Spanoulis, it was a good game that was decided by a few details».
ERICK GREEN: « I think it was a great game for both teams. It's a series of games and we are not looking at any one game separately. We are now focusing on game three, we'll watch some video, we'll correct our mistakes and we now need to be better. Spanoulis is our leader; I have to fill in for some very big shoes in his absence. We are now waiting for him to come back and give us confidence».