True to the Olympiacos spirit!!!
Olympiacos beat Real Madrid 80-79 in Spain and now has a 15-7 record after 22 days in the Euroleague competition.
After Fenerbahce, Olympiacos has now a 2-0 record against Real Madrid as well, making a huge step towards gaining the home court advantage in the Euroleague play-offs. A great performance by everyone who played in Madrid.
The game had an ideal beginning for our team, especially offensive wise. The Piraeus team, with Giorgos Printezis finishing off most offensive plays, got to lead 20-21 at the end of the first quarter.
Wiltjer and Papanikolaou assisted Giorgos Printezis, Spanoulis was an exemplar organizer of the game and whenever Real was trying to close in during the second quarter, the Sfairopoulos' players had the answer and half time ended with Olympiacos leading 39-45.
The only problem for the 'reds' in the third quarter was that of defensive rebounding, since Real Madrid was taking many second shots and had the opportunity to score. Despite all that, however, Olympiacos maintained the lead (62-65) at the end of the third quarter.
In the last quarter, the first four minutes were the worst in the game for the Sfairopoulos' team. Many offensive rebounds for the Madrilène, back to back threes and a partial 9-2 run, allowed Real to gain the lead (71-67 at 34'). Laso' team even led by 6, however, Olympiacos reacted and once again got at the steering wheel (73-75 following a 0-8 streak, great defensive plays by everyone on the team and offensive solutions by Printezis).
Olympiacos proved why he is the most successful team in Europe in the last decade in the last couple of minutes of the game. In the toughest home court in Europe, the 'reds' did not cave in and with 1/2 free throws by Janis Strelnies plus an amazing defensive play on the last attack by the hosts, they got the 80-79 victory.
The quarters: 20-21, 39-45, 62-65, 79-80.
Real Madrid (Laso): Causeur 8, Randle, Randolph 4, Radoncic, Doncic 27 (1), Reyes 7 (1), Campazzo, Carroll 6, Τavares 2, Thompkins 20 (5), Τaylor 5 (1).
Οlympiacos (Sfairopoulos): ΜcLean 5, Papapetrou 1, Spanoulis, Μilutinov 8, Strelnieks 11 (1 3p, 7as), Printezis 21 (2), Papanikolaou 8, Mantzaris 2, Roberts 5 (1), Wiltjer 12 (3), Τhompson 7 (1).
THE QUOTES
GIANNIS SFAIROPOULOS: “It's a very important victory for us, against Real Madrid in their home court, it's easy for anyone to win here, especially when we know that we are fighting for the play-offs, Real Madrid has the same goals we have and they are very probable to make the Final Four, they are among the favorites. To analyze the game, our players had control through defense, we succeeded to disorganize Real's offensive game, the most important thing is we did not allow them to play fast, to run the fast break and play their style of game. We knew that if we kept them at a low score, we would have a lot of chances at winning. We had control throughout the game. We had expected Real to react in the second quarter, it was very important that we did not give up when they were leading by 6, we continued fighting, we played good defense and won. Congrats to our players, we have still many games to play, we need to continue fighting and anything can happen. Good luck to my friend Pablo Laso and to Real Madrid."
GIORGOS ANGELOPOULOS: “We had never won in this gym. It was a great victory, a great satisfaction, after everything that had transpired. I think everyone understands what Olympiacos is capable of and we are moving forward strong. This was a very tough period, everyone was doubted. We faced all of that with composure, we know who we are and what our worth is, we talked in length about everything that had happened, we had a good conversation in the locker rooms as well, apart from the team's private talks and analysis. It was kind of an intense conversation, but we'll talk about it when we are on track. Optimism never left us, Olympiacos is not run by facebook, neither by the posts in the social media. This was only one of the issues discussed, but not the only one. We know what we are doing, we know who we are, we are the best team in Europe in the last decade, it seems that we are going to do well this season too, to be at this level with the financial means available in Greece, against financial giants, like Fener for example, or CSKA. You have to fight with colossal numbers. Let's enjoy these moments, enjoy the team, I don't know if there is going to be such a team again in the near future, so let's enjoy it".
ΜΙLAN TOMIC: “I think we played a very good game. Apart from the blank periods in our offense when Real gained the lead. We played a very good game in general. Everyone got to play well, Thompson and Roberts as well and everyone that came in from the bench on both ends of the floor. Despite Doncic scoring a lot, we played good defense on him, he did not get to create a lot, he had 1/6 threes, he made his twos because he's a keen scorer. The good thing is we got to stop Carroll, he did not make his usual threes. I think we controlled the game for forty minutes. Spanoulis was good tonight, he helped the team with his defense, he had 5 assists, he did not score, but this is what a team is. When your best player does not score and you win, that means you are a team ”.