A winning premiere against Armani!
Ο Olympiacos bested Armani Milan 87-80 at the SEF for the 16th day of the Euroleague and made a winning premiere in the 2018!
Relying on good shooting percentages from the perimeter, dominating rebounding and also complete and absolute focus (proof enough the zero turnovers in the 1st quarter!), Olympiacos "built" a 10 point difference from the start (18-8 at 5'), which went to +11 at 8' (24-13). The Italians closed in at 7 with a 4-0 run (24-17, at 9'), however, the 'reds' opened … fire from the 6.75 meters and with Kyle Wiltjer leading the offense sent the difference to +16 (39-23 at 16'). Continuous rotation by Sfairopoulos did not impact the team tempo that relying on good defense closed the first half leading by 14 (48-34).
Our team began the 3rd quarter strong and increased the distance even more (18p. 55-37 at 22'). Some bad offensive choices along with turnovers, allowed Armani to close in, nevertheless, Kostas Papanikolaou, who was dominating the floor, took it up to stop them and bring back the order (70-53 at 30'). Despite the different rotations the Olympiacos coach got to try in the last quarter to keep the team 'fresh', the 'reds' maintained control (74-56 at 34') and despite slowing down in the last minutes they won without ever being at risk.
The injured Brian Roberts, Kim Tillie and Dimitris Agravanis watched the game together.
The quarters: 26-17, 48-34, 70-53, 87-80
Οlympiacos (Sfairopoulos): ΜcLean 6 (5 reb.), Τoliopoulos (4 as.), Papapetrou 11 (1 3p., 5 reb.), Spanoulis 14 (2 3p., 7 as.), Μilutinov 8, Strelnieks, Printezis 7 (1), Papanikolaou 15 (2 3p., 7 reb.), Μantzaris 8 (2 3p., 5 reb., 6as.), Bogris 1, Wiltjer 15 (2), Τhompson 2.
Αrmani Milan (Pianigiani): Goudelock 20 (3), Micov 11 (1), Κalnietis 3, Tarczewski 12, Κuzminskas 12, Cinciarini 2, Cusin, Abass, M'Baye, Theodore 5, Jerrells 15 (3).
«We were taught a good lesson»
Coach Giannis Sfairopoulos thinks that the last five minutes of the game had a lot to teach! "It was a good game for us tonight. We were very focused and consistent with our defense, we only received 34 points in the first half, but we were playing against a very talented team with a lot of very good offensive players. Following my colleague's time out at 74-56 we stopped playing good basketball and we were static with our offense. We have Armani the chance to score easy points and close in. On one hand, we did not deserve this bad outlook of the last five minutes, however, this does not change the total one. We need to understand that we have to keep fighting for forty minutes. It was a good lesson that did not cost us".
About Janis Strelnies: "He felt his bicep tightening, he was not injured, but we'll have to see. He's having an MRI tomorrow. Despite the injuries, the team has a good rhythm. It's not easy to beat Armani. The most important thing is that the team is very strong together and each one gives their best. We are waiting for the injured players to get back into rhythm. We are not complete yet, but we are not whining, we deal with the situations as they come and move on".
On his part, the coach of the Italian team, Simone Pianigiani, stated: "We really did not play a good game tonight. We have played evenly throughout the first half of the Euroleague except for one game, but tonight, many of our players did not believe that we could make something here. Some of them are trying to get back in shape, they think too much and that's why we started the game very low key in defense. We made a lot of mistakes in our offense, missed a lot of open shots plus free throws. To win in this court, you need to play much better. We are not in the best shape possible, but we are waiting for Gudaitis and Bertans to come back and for Kuzminskas to better assimilate. I have nothing more to say".
«We need to keep improving»
Kostas Papanikolau stated: "Our defense was of high standards for yet another night. It helped us score easy points, especially in the third quarter, when we sealed the victory. We need to be fighting to the end. We did not finish the way we wanted to. We need to remain focused for 40 minutes and keep getting better".