Premiere with a defeat at the SEF
Olympiacos lost for the STOIXIMAN.GR Basket League premiere to Panathinaikos 68-71 at the SEF. Our team played without Vassilis Spanoulis and Brian Roberts (injuries) and of course without the presence of fans (team penalty).
The guests led 7-2, however with good defense and Printezis and Papanikolaou leading the offense, our team answered with a 11-0 streak and led for the first time at 4' (11-7). Xavi Pasqual's players exploited on the defensive problems of the 'reds' and regained the lead (15-11), however, Olympiacos got to react immediately. A three by Mantzaris and 2/2 free throws by Printezis allowed out team to finish the quarter leading 16-15.
The second quarter was a derby… Olympiacos moved the ball a lot and tried to pass it in the post. On the other hand, Panathinaikos relied on his rebounding superiority, and combined with their good perimeter percentages got to lead 33-34. Once again though, the reflexes of the Sfairopoulos' players went into operational mode and with a partial 7-2 the first half was +4 for the hosts (40-36).
The 'greens', were dominating rebounding and succeeded in covering for the difference and lead by 4 (47-51). Jamel McLean however stepped up at that point, and turned the game around (54-52 at 30').
Next, it was Hollis Thompson and the margin was up to 9p. for the first time in the game (61-52 at 32' and 65-56 at 35'). Nevertheless, our team did not succeed in maintaining its distance… Poor offensive choices, plus good shooting percentages from the perimeter for the guests, resulted in a 13-1 streak for Panathinaikos (66-69). McLean made a one point game (68-69), but it was Gist who shaped the final 68-71 with 2/2 free throws and 3'' to go, since a long distance three by Mantzaris went off target.
The quarters: 16-15, 40-36, 54-52, 68-71.
Olympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Μilutinov 8 (7reb.), Papanikolaou 5(1), Μantzaris 8(2), Τhompson 13(1), Printezis 8 (6reb.), ΜcLean 18(4 reb.), Τoliopoulos 1, Papapetrou 5(1), Strelnieks 2, Τillie.
Panathinaikos (Pasqual): Gist 13, Lojeski 7(1), Calathes 14, Αntetokoumpo 5(1), Singleton 9(1), Rivers 13(3), Pappas 7(1), Denmon, Gabriel 2, Auguste, Vougioukas 1.
Sfairopoulos: "We could have won"
Troubled by the defeat, but also optimistic about the future, Giannis Sfairopoulos commented on the game:"It was a derby, a game decided at the end. We are sorry we lost tonight, because the way the game was going, we could have won. We were winning by nine in the fourth quarter, had we reacted a little better in the last five minutes the result would have been different. We are still in the beginning. I would have said the same, even if we had won tonight. We still have a long way to go. We still don't play the way we want, because we need to overcome some injury problems, some cohesion problems that are only logical since we have six new players coming in this season. And we also need to overcome the fatigue suffered by the internationals. Olympiacos has had eight players in the National teams that got very little rest and they are not at their best for sure. But all these need time to be addressed. Our performance wasn't the one I wanted to, but we still could have won. Despite all that, it was promising in terms of future games, because when problems are solved we are certainly going to be playing better basketball".
About the incident with Kostas Papanikolaou (at the end of the 3rd quarter he asked him to leave the court and go to the locker rooms), he commented: "I have said many times that I don't want anyone talking about the game officials. Each one should be dealing only with the game. The important thing is what we are doing on the floor. Being focused with all our being. That's what I've been telling everyone since the first day I got here and I will continue saying till I'm gone".
On his part, Xavi Pasqual stated : "First of all, we are happy for this victory. It was a classic derby. Both teams wanted the victory and deserved to win. We made some open shots, played good defense at the end, were more focused for the most part of the game except for the 3rd quarter and the beginning of the fourth, but it's still very early in the season and we have a lot of things to improve".