Koroivos swept over!
Vangelis Mantzaris and Bobby Brown were the top scorer for Olympiacos (they scored 20 points each) and Olympiacos "crashed" Koroivos in Amaliada 104-54.
Vassilis Spanoulis, Giorgos Printezis and Kostas Papanikolaou were not included in the line up.
The hosts got to lead 12-9, shooting mainly from the perimeter, however, good defensive game and with Vangelis Mantzaris leading the offense helped our team impose the rhythm and close the first quarter leading 27-21. Olympiacos also took advantage of its dominance in rebounding, but also of Bobby Brown's perimeter shooting to widen the margin even further (+17, 48-31, at 20').
The 'reds' made an even stronger start in the second half, "struck" with every possible or … impossible way and got the lead up to 43 points (85-42 at 29'). In the last quarter, coach Sfairopoulos had the chance to give minutes to all his players, however, the difference not only stayed at the same levels but actually got even bigger (50 points, 104-54 at 39').
Koroivos (Κalampakos): Carson 6, Langford 14(4), Skoulidas 6(2), Spyridonidis 9(1), DeCosey 2, Posley, Milentijevits, Katzos, Rounis, Bekris, Hines 17(1).
Οlympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Papapetrou 10(5reb.), Milutinov 12, Τillie 9(2 3p., 7 reb.), Μantzaris 20(4 3p., 5as., 3 st.), Roberts 11(1 3p., 4 as.), ΜcLean 9, Brown 20(5), Τoliopoulos 4, Strelnieks 7(1 3p., 4 as.), Bogris 2.
"Now everyone needs to be ready"
Giannis Sfairopoulos pointed out: "We played a very good game with great concentration. Our readiness level was very high. The way the game went I think it does no justice for the team of Koroivos and the work coach Kalampakos has been doing, because they have certainly proved they are better. We were very focused from the start and throughout the game. We did not have any blank periods. We trapped Koroivos perimeter, hence depriving them of their strength. We moved the ball correctly when attacking, we run the open court, we 'struck' from all positions and we generally played a very good game".
He continued talking about the crucial games that follow: "For us, I think that the closer the play-offs are, we need to raise the tempo. Everyone should be ready to play, to offer on both ends of the floor, doing whatever is asked from them. What I witnessed today is important. We need to continue the same way. We have difficult games, two for the Euroleague that are going to determine our final ranking and then it's the play-offs, where we'll see if we can make the final four. We also have the regular season games for the Greek League, where we want to rank as high as possible in view of the League play-offs. So, since we are closing towards the end, all our players need to be focused, to step up, because the team needs all of them. I with to thank our fans who came to support us, I hope we rewarded them with our performance. Good luck to Koroivos and to the coach".
"We are focusing on the difficult games ahead"
Commenting on the wide victory, one of the best players for our team tonight, Vangelis Mantzaris, stressed: "Every game depends on how we play. If we are doing OK, then there's no one to be afraid of. We don't underestimate any opponent. Koroivos is a combative team, but we came here to win something… We were ten players; we were missing players to injuries, so we said we had to be our best to win. We were focused for forty minutes. We are happy from the performance, but it was just a game. We are focusing on the difficult games ahead"
Asked about fatigue, he said: "There is a lot of fatigue, but now that we are coming close to the final stretch before the play-offs, we need to give 100% to make the final four, so talking about fatigue is redundant. What we want is to be the best we can be in every game and be able to help the team".
Finally about his personal performance, he had to say: "I suffered from a gastro virus for about five days. I wasn’t able to get out of bed. I'm fine now, healthy and I need to find rhythm to help my team with what's coming ahead".