Run out of gas in Moscow
Despite the absentees (Kostas Papanikolaou and Vangelis Mantzaris had not followed the team), Olympiacos fought, but wasn't able to 'break' the negative tradition of recent years in the games against CSKA in Moscow (last time the team had won was in 2008). The 'reds' lost to the Army Team 81-89, for the 27th day of the Euroleague.
The 'reds' made a strong beginning and with Vassilis Spanoulis and Giorgos Printezis they got to lead 18-11 at 5'. CSKA replied with a 10-0 streak and took the reigns (21-18), however, Spanoulis and Roberts were "feeding" Nikola Milutinov, who gave Olympiacos once again the lead (24-21) with three back to back dunks!
Papapetrou wrote the 26-21 on the board, but at that point, our team (that was extremely off target in the second quarter, even from the free throw line) suffered a new offensive black out. The Russians did not let this one pass… Relying on their good perimeter percentages (especially those of Nado de Colo) and with a partial 17-3 got to lead by +10 (40-30).
The Sfairopoulos players did not give up… Playing good in defense and with Spanoulis and Printezis leading the offense, they succeeded - despite the rebounds lost - to close in to 4p. (44-40) at the end of the first quarter.
Brian Roberts made a one point game (45-44) at the beginning of the 3rd quarter; however, it was Higgins that gave CSKA a 7 point margin (56-49). The unstoppable Giorgos Printezis was the main reason Olympiacos stayed 'alive' and close to the Russian team until 29' (63-62).
However, the two minutes that followed were catastrophic, since during that time, Olympiacos did not score and on the contrary, received a 12-0 streak, that had the team trailing at -13 (75-62 at 31'). The Sfairopoulos players refused to throw the towel (85-78 at 37'), however, they lacked the reserves to complete one more upset.
The quarters: 23-26, 44-40, 69-62, 89-81.
CSKA (Ιtoudis): De Colo 25(4), Rudd, Fridzon, Westermann, Αntonov 5 (1), Rodriguez 13 (1), Vorontsevich 3 (1), Clyburn 12, Higgins 14(1), Kurbanov 4, Hines 7, Hunter 6.
Οlympiacos (Sfairopoulos): ΜcLean 3, Brown 3, Papapetrou 2, Spanoulis 17 (2 3p., 6 as, 3 st.), Milutinov 10 (5 reb.), Strelnieks 5 (1), Τillie 3, Printezis 24 (1 3p., 5 reb.), Roberts 9 (3as.), Wiltjer, Τhompson 5(1).
"We need to focus on Efes"
The Olympiacos coach, Giannis Sfairopoulos, commented: "Congratulations to CSKA for the victory. They played better for the most part of the game and got to win with this margin. We made a good start and quite focused. We were much better with our offense and not just at the beginning. But if you don't play good defense in Moscow, then it's tough to beat such a great offensive line, like that of CSKA's. They shot 60% in twos. Also, when you allow so many easy points in the paint, it's not easy to beat any team, let alone CSKA. We continue with our next game against Anadolu Efes. We need to focus on the game this game that we play at home. Good luck to CSKA".
Asked on whether he was disappointed by Bobby Brown's performance, he replied: "He's a quality player, but he's still adjusting to our game philosophy. It takes time. It's not easy for any player to come at this point in the season and adjust that easily to our game principles. He has quality, he can give more to the team and I expect he will be doing that in the following games".
Finally, when asked to comment on the course of the Russian team this season, he said: "Stats show the reality. CSKA has played very good games through out the Regular season and deserve top seed. They are always the favorite for the Final Four and for winning the trophy".