Returning from Milan with a victory!

With the help of 400 loyal fans, Olympiacos succeeded to get another important road victory! Got the victory in Milan against Armani 86-85 and now counts seven victories in a total of nine Euroleague games!

Leaning on Brian Roberts to offer solutions in the offense, Olympiacos tried to impose the tempo and was leading by 5 (14-9) at 5’. However, the prematurely “defunct” Nikola Milutinov due to fouling, difficulty in scoring and mainly inability to win the rebounding battle, resulted in Armani running a 12-0 streak (21-14 at 9’).

The reds picked up the tempo in defense the second quarter and despite continuing receiving buckets following missed rebounds, they were able to regain control. Janis Strelnieks gave the signal for the counter attack, Jamel McLean and Vangelis Mantzaris assisted the Latvian guard with scoring and Olympiacos ‘built’ a +7 difference (37-44 at 19’). However, the Italians were not willing to abandon the game and closed in 42-46 by the end of the first half.  

The Sfairopoulos players began the second game strong… They put more pressure in defense, moved the ball correctly, McLean and Printezis stepped up in offense during that time and took the margin to 10 points (53-63 at 28’). The hosts answered back with a partial 9-2, having a 3 points game (62-65 at 29’), while using their good perimeter percentages got to lead 72-70 at 34’.

From that point on, the game was a first class derby with the Italians taking advantage of their superiority in the post thanks to Gudaitis (McLean was playing with 4 fouls during the last 4 minutes, while Milutinov had been ejected a long time before that). However, the American center was to be the great protagonist of the game, since with a bucket and a foul of his own Olympiacos got to write the final 85-86 with 46’’ to go!
About 15’’ before the end Kostas Pananikolaou – who was among the best of the game – missed both his free throws, however, he made amends immediately! Playing pressing defense, he forced Jerrells to an off balance shot from the three point line at the buzzer that did not go in, hence sealing the game and the victory.

Thed quarters: 21-17, 42-46, 62-66, 85-86

 
Αrmani Milano (Pianigiani): Micov 15 (1), Pascolo 2, Kalnietis 2, Tarczewski 7, Cinciarini, M’Baye 3, Theodore 20(2), Jefferson 10, Bertans, Jerrells 7(1),Gudaitis 19.

Οlympiacos (Sfairopoulos): McLean 22, Papapetrou 2, Milutinov, Strelnieks 14 (5 as), Printezis 9(1), Papanikolaou 11 (6 fouls won), Μantzaris 6 (2), Roberts 18 (6/6 1p, 4 reb, 3 as), Bogris, Wiltjer, Τhompson 4.

"Our offense won the game"

The Olympiacos coach began his statements thanking the fans that traveled to Milan to support it. “We wish to thank our fans that came to support us. They were amazing. We wanted to thank them winning the game and we did it ".

Analyzing the game, he said that the ‘reds’ got the victory thanks to their offense and not their defense, their focal element… “We knew that it was going to be difficult, because Armani is a very good team with great scorers. We did not succeed to play the way we are used to be playing in defense. Despite that, we managed to control the game with a small lead. In the first half we had a huge problem due to Armani’s offensive rebounding. It’s characteristic that they got more offensive than defensive rebounds. Despite playing a good offensive game, scoring 86 points, we unfortunately allowed easy points from offensive rebounds, which we would have avoided had we played better defense. We got better in the second half and only allowed five rebounds, but Armani was easily scoring after drives by the guards or passing to the big guys that were finishing plays. It was very important that during that not so good defensive game, we had an outstanding offensive game with great percentages and thus we won. We defended well some critical plays and did not allow the Armani guards to score. That’s the reason we won the game. Congratulations to Armani for the good game and wish them good luck”.

"Everyone played well"

The game’s MVP Jamel McLean, was not willing to claim the glory for the victory! “It was a good game by everyone. Coming here, we knew a hard game was ahead That’s why we needed to remain focused. Tonight the ball just … found me. My team mates encouraged me, but apart from that, everyone played well. It’s one of these days… It’s hard to explain… I had the chance and took it. That’s basketball. Some days shots go on and some not… However, the team is above everyone else. We played well as a team”.

Asked on whether his former team mates congratulated him, he answered : “It’s difficult when you play against guys with whom you’ve been together with for two years. Losing a game and all the more in this way is tough, so I understand that they could not be happy and smiling after the end. I appreciate the atmosphere, Armani is a very good team and I’m glad to be back”.

On Armani’s come back: “Our coach had shown us three of their games, where they got to overturn the situation against them in all three of them. They were trailing to Bamberg by 17, returned and won. The coach had told us that we were never going to win should we make the mistake to believe that it was over. Armani never gives up. They fight to the end and that’s what they did tonight. Papanikolaou played excellent defense on Jerrells’ shot and that gave us the victory”.

“It was a very important victory"

Milan Tomic, assistant to Sfairopoulos, stated: “It was a game that our offense worked well. The perfect game is when you are good on both ends of the floor, but also when you get to win. If you are good on both ends of the floor, you are going to finish the game easier. We controlled the game on the three first quarters. It was point to point on the fourth. They made a lot of problems for us with the pick n’ roll with Micov and Gudaitis. We changed the defense at the end in that part and contained them. We allowed them a lot of offensive rebounds, that gave them a lot of easy points, which was their weapon to stay in the game. However, the good thing is to win even when you are very good on some parts of the game. We had many players on a good day, we read the offense well and the important thing is we succeeded in winning”.

Olympiacos was leading by 10, but Armani made the come back “Armani is able to come back from great differences, they are a team that you can never relax against. We received easy bucket from the pick n’ roll and it was certain that at points they would get to lead. However, we succeeded in getting a very important victory”.

On the last play of the game: “It was one on one. Kostas had the experience to play defense that way. He always guards the opponent’s best player”. The next game is once again on the road against Valencia… “We need to prepare. We have enough time until Valencia. They are a good team, especially at home. We are going to prepare accordingly, since we need to be playing even better there in order to win”.