Motors at full speed in view of Zalgiris
Olympiacos bested AEK at the SEF 100-86 for the 21st day of the STOIXIMAN.GR Basket League and now focuses solely on the important game against Zalgiris on the Orthodox Good Friday for the last day of the Euroleague.
Just like in the game against Unicaja, Giannis Sfairopoulos did not have Giorgos Printezis and Kostas Papanikolaou capable to use in the line up.
The beginning was sluggish for the 'reds'. Poor offensive choices and many turnovers (a total of seven in the first quarter!) allowed AEK to impose the rhythm (6-13 at 4') and steadily maintain the lead up until 11' (21-23). A bucket and a foul by Janis Strelniks gave Olympiacos the 24-23 lead at 12', however, AEK relying on its good perimeter percentages regained control and got to lead by +7 (33-40, at 17').
The Sfairopoulos players, however, paid them back accordingly… With two back to back threes by Strelnieks, one by Ioannis Papapetrou, four free throws by Bobby Brown (that came from a foul won on a three point shot and a technical on Dragan Sakota for complaining on the same play) and a lay up by Vassilis Spanoulis, our team run a partial 15-0 and turn the game around leading by +8 (48-40, at 19').
In the beginning of the 3rd quarter, the guests exploited on some gaps in the defense of our team, as well as on its difficulty in scoring at the time and made a two point game (54-52, at 23'). Kim Tillie and Bobby Brown took over and Olympiacos widened the berth to +9 in just one minute (61-52, at 24')! AEK once again tried to close in, however, it was Brian Roberts' turn to take over and help the 'reds' widen the margin even further (+13, 74-61, at 30').
The combative AEK continued pressing in the defense and closed in at +7 (84-77, at 35'), however, it was now Janis Strelnieks that offered solutions from the perimeter (89-77 at 37') and together with the ever efficient Vassilis Spanoulis led Olympiacos safely to the victory.
The quarters: 19-21, 52-46, 74-61, 100-86
Οlympiacos (Sfairopoulos): ΜcLean 7, Spanoulis 21 (9 as.), Τillie 5 (1), Μantzaris 6 (2), Roberts 10, Brown 15 (3), Papapetrou 7 (1), Milutinov 11 (11 reb.), Strelnieks 18 (3), Bogris.
ΑΕΚ (Sakota): James 9 , Green 9 , Vassilopoulos 4, Larentzakis 7 , Xanthopoulos, Sakota 12 (2), Atic 5 (1), Μavroeidis 6, Κavvadas 2, Punter 24(2), Hunter 8.
«Support our effort»
Giannis Sfairopoulos congratulated his players on the victory against AEK despite their fatigue and summoned the team fans to have a dynamic presence in the game against Zalgiris.
"Today I will be warmly congratulating our players because we really had to deal with a special circumstance game. A game that required both high concentration and high levels of energy. It's very tough to play for the Euroleague on a Friday night and travel two long flights from Malaga afterwards. We arrived at the Athens airport at 23.30 on Saturday and we were playing 19.30 the next day. Our opponent did not have the face the same situation. We had also had the back to back Euroleague games. You need high levels of energy, but also high levels of mental focus. That's why I'm congratulating our players. It was one of the most difficult games to manage in the season. We did a good job. We had a pluralistic offense that worked great. Our defense was good, although there was some miscommunications and inaction that gave AEK some easy points. However, we were great in the 2nd quarter and in the third one, when our defense did not allow AEK to score more than 15 points, which gave us a difference and the way the game evolved allowed us to get an easy victory. Congrats to our players, we are resting for a day tomorrow and from Tuesday on, we are starting to prepare for the last game of the Euroleague Reagular season. I want to summon the Olympiacos fans to the gym for the game against Zalgiris. We play against a very good team. Both I and my players want the fans to come and support the effort we've been making the whole season so as to rank as high as possible".