Olympiacos leads the series against Kymi 1-0

Olympiacos bested Kymi at the SEF 78-75 and in case of victory in the Saturday game (19/05, 18.00) in Chalkida, the 'reds' will be qualifying for the semis of the STOIXIMAN.GR Basket League playoffs.

With a good defensive game (proof enough the mere 8 points scored by the guests in the first quarter) and a pluralistic offense, the 'reds' set the tempo (20-6) and got to build a +25 margin (36-11, at 16'). After that, Olympiacos slowed down and the guests closed in 41-28 at the end of the first half.

And they didn't just stop there… Taking advantage of gaps in our defense and the struggling offense of our team, they made a 5 point game (50-45, at 26'). The Sfairopoulos' players reacted and took the difference to +11 (59-48, at 29'), but Kymi never gave up and succeeded in making a one point game (65-64, at 37').

Τhe last seconds...

The game was a derby to the end, with McFadden tying it 72-72, with 40'' to the end after hitting a three off the glass! With a bucket and one Janis Strelnieks offered a 3p. margin to Olympiacos (75-72), McFadden closed in 75-74 with 2 free throws, Vangelis Mantzaris made one of his two free throws and made the score 76-74, McFadden scored 1 of 2 free throws as well making the score 76-75, while victory was 'sealed' with two free throws by Vassilis Spanoulis with 4'' to the clock (78-75). Manolopoulos got to shoot a three on his team last offensive play and missed.

Before the jump ball of the game, Olympiacos BC honored the ex-red Nikos Barlos and current Kymi player, who has announced to be retiring after the end of the season. The award was presented to him by his former team mate Giorgos Printezis.

The quarters: 25-8, 41-28, 59-51, 78-75.

Οlympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Spanoulis 18 (1), Papanikolaou 10 (1), Roberts 2, Bogris 6, Wiltjer 14(7 reb.), ΜcLean 2 (6 reb.), Brown, Τoliopoulos, Papapetrou 7 (7 reb.), Strelnieks 5, Printezis 7 (1), Μantzaris 7.

Κymi (Κastritis): Μanolopoulos 9 , Jones 7, ΜcGhee 11, ΜcFadden 21 (3), Smith 15 (1), Geromichalos, Τsagkarakis 3 (1), Glyniadakis, Vilhjalmsson 3 (1), Kyser 4, Barlos 2.

«Let's fix things while there's still time»

Coach Giannis Sfairopoulos was visibly upset by our team's performance. "Today we got to lead the series 1-0, but we are not happy at all with how the game went. So long we remained focused and did what we had to do, we were playing a very good game. We stopped Kymi at scoring only 8 points in the first quarter and a total of 11 until 15'. The difference was up to 25 points and it was somewhere there that everyone thought the game was going to be easy and stopped doing what they should be doing. I'm really ashamed to be coaching this team for how we performed after the first 15 minutes and the way we played today. I talked to the players in the locker rooms and told them that each one of them should be taking responsibility for themselves. Myself included as the coach, and the players because Olympiacos cannot simply be playing this way. We need to fix things while there's still time, because if we continue the same things are not going to go our way".

Asked on whether the problem has to do with the game or is a mental one, he replied: "It's both. The team needs everyone to perform at top notch. We can't be playing like this when we have shown the extent of our quality. We have won games in very difficult European courts. We have beaten teams that are in the final four and all the more we have beaten them twice… And we get to play this way, not just today, but lately as a constant… It's only certain that something is wrong. It has to do both with mentality and physical shape".
On the status of Brian Roberts: "He has a lower back problem, and we'll see what shape he's in tomorrow".

Asked if he thinks his player lack will to play, he replied: "I don't want to be thinking that the players don't want to have something good done. However, I'm very skeptical and I have been trying to find a way as well as the reason the team has not been performing all this time that we haven't been playing well. If we don't work together, if we don't try together to improve on our outlook, we can do nothing…".