A heavy loss to Barcelona at the SEF
Olympiacos played one his worst games in the season and was defeated at the SEF to indifferent in terms of ranking Barcelona with a 63-90 score, for the 26th day of the Euroleague.
Our team got to lead 10-6, however, the 'blaugrana' passed the ball in the post to Ante Tomic and with a partial 14-4 run made the upset (they were leading with 6, 20-14 at 8'). Jamel McLean slightly changed the status… The American center did a good job in the post and helped Olympiacos to a one point game (33-34, at 16'). Vasilis Spanoulis was leading the 'reds' effort into regaining the lead, however, Navarro and Koponen offered Barcelona substantial solutions and the guests were leading by two at halftime (38-40).
A three by Ioannis Papapetrou gave Olympiacoa the lead at 21' (41-40), however, the team 'collapsed' defense wise and allowed the Catalans to take the difference to +16 with 17-0 streak (41-57, at 26'). With McLean and Printezis as the spearheads of our offense, our team closed in at 9p. (50-59), However, it was somewhere there that the next 'reds' black out took over… The Sfairopoulos' players were barely scoring, at the same time the guests, exploiting their dominance in the post, were taking the difference to extreme heights (+33, 55-88, at 38'), ending the battle with expedited procedures.
The quarters: 17-22, 38-40, 52-63, 63-90
Οlympiacos (Sfairopoulos): ΜcLean 14 (12 reb.), Brown 3 (1), Papapetrou 9 (3), Spanoulis 10 (1 3p., 5 assists), Μilutinov 4 (6 reb.), Τillie, Printezis 14 (1), Mantzaris 2, Roberts 2, Wiltjer, Τhompson.
Barcelona (Pesic): Ribas 3 (1), Pressey, Jackson, Navarro 7 (2), Heurtel 13, Kurucs, Oriola 12, Koponen 14 (1), Klaver 4, Τomic 19, Moerman 17.
«We were taught a good lesson»
The Olympiacos coach, Giannis Sfairopoulos, stated: "Congratulations to Barcelona, they played better than us tonight. We made a very bad start in the game, were nervous and stressed to score. We did not have clear ideas and the mind to 'read' their defense, so as to move the ball and play all together. We did not play as a team and this hurt our game in the offense, plus the fact that we missed a lot of open shots and that had an impact on our defense. We allowed many easy points in the transition, in the fast break and a lot of offensive rebounds. We tried to change the momentum and make a new start in the second half; however, we did not make it. We weren't aggressive in the defense and were always one step behind. We made individual plays in the offense and not team ones. That was the reason Barcelona got a huge margin and then it was tough to come back".
And he went on to say: "Unfortunately, such a game brings us back to reality. There has been a wide spread optimism lately and this wasn't good for us, which was obvious tonight. Some were saying that we are already at the Final Four, however, I'm still trying to explain that we still haven't got the home court advantage. Some are in a real hurry.
Each defeat hurts, each defeat is a cause for problems. We need to learn to fight all the games. We shouldn't be running ahead of ourselves… Even if you get home court advantage, there are still the play-offs to play. No one is talking about them… Barcelona has a huge name, but they have no goal at this point in the competition. Go figure if they had one. We need to keep going one step at a time, just like we had been doing during the season. The expectations are too much. We need to lower the tone and work. The players need to understand that and work. There is still nothing decided, we were taught a very good lesson and we need to be fighting for each game. This is the reality. We cannot be relaxing even for a minute! Don't forget that last year, against Efes, we had the home court advantage and we still lost the second game. We that are more experienced know that we should get carried away! Finally, I would like to thank the fans for supporting us at times like this…"
The Barcelona coach, Svetislav Pesic, pointed out: "We played a great game. Congrats to everyone, they were completely focused. There was strong motivation before the game, because we have great respect for Olympiacos. They are a great team, with a good coach, very good defense, and they have been having a great season. That motivated our players, that we all saw played good defense, we controlled the rebounds, especially in the third quarter. Everything is important. How you begin the game, how you finish it. Olympiacos tried to mess with our effort but wasn't successful. We got extra motivated by it, and remained focused. Everyone fought at one on one, for instance against Spanoulis, while Printezis was also our main target. He's the one that makes all the difference with Olympiacos' game. He offers balance to Olympiacos with the inside game. I'm happy not only for having won, but also about the way we did it".
When asked to comment on the 50 rebounds his team grabbed, he said: "I've been coaching for 35 years, I haven't seen 50 rebounds in a basketball game not even with National Selections in European or World Championships. It's a dream for every coach. For me, this stopped being a dream tonight, it became a reality".
Jamel McLean: "Nothing went well; it's also a matter of who your opponent is. They played without pressure, they made their shots. It wasn't our night. Against such an aggressive team, we need to have passion. We need to learn from this. We are fine. We have lost before. We need to learn and continue, move forward".