A defeat in OAKA
Olympiacos did not succeed being crowned the Greek Champions… The ‘reds’ lost the 5th final in in the OAKA to Panathinaikos 70-84.
Before he even got to play for 3’, Nikola Milutinov (who began the game) was charged with his third personal foul, while only seconds from returning in the game at 19’ he was charged with his 4th and was fouled out at 29’! And somehow the Serbian center was off the game following an expedited procedure…
Olympiacos succeeded with good defense and good percentages from the perimeter to close the first quarter leading 15-14. Next, our team found rhythm and solutions with Brian Roberts, Jamel McLean and Vassilis Spanoulis and won a difference of +5 (25-30, at 18’). Panathinaikos got ahead running a partial 6-0 (31-30), however, the ‘reds’ replied with a 5-0 streak (a three by Roberts and 2/2 free throws by McLean) and closed the first half leading with +4 (35-31).
Before the second half began, members of our team that were in the bench found themselves at the receiving end of an attack by Panathinaikos’ fans and Olympiacos left for the locker rooms. Finally, following necessary assertions by the police and the refs that the ones posing threat would be removed from the premises, they returned on the floor and the game went on…
The hosts – who were shooting poorly from the perimeter in the first half (0/7) – “struck” from the 6.75 m. line, took advantage of the bad offensive function of our team and ‘built’ a +16 difference (68-52 at 32’). Hence Olympiacos had neither the clear thinking nor the stamina to make the big come back…
The quarters: 14-15, 31-35, 50-60, 84-70
Panathinaikos (Pasqual): Singleton 9, Gist 11, Lojeski 12 (1), Calathes 9 (1), Αntetokoumpo 4, Rivers 6 (2), James 18(1), Pappas 13 (1), Vougioukas 2, Lekavicius, Auguste, Μitoglou.
Οlympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Spanoulis 11, Μilutinov, Printezis 13 (2), Papanikolaou 6 (1), Mantzaris, ΜcLean 16, Papapetrou 2, Strelnieks 2, Roberts 13 (2), Bogris 2, wiltjer 5 (1).
"It’s a difficult moment"
The Olympiacos coach, Giannis Sfairopoulos, stated: «Congratulations to Panathinaikos. It was a game with two different outlooks. We were very focused in the first half, we stack to ou plan, controlled the tempo and kept Panathinaikos to low scoring. We saw a different game in the second half, Panathinaikos was tougher. Given the circumstances, we weren’t able to maintain our focus. We made 8 turnovers in the 3rd quarter, some due to lack of concentration, some due to other factors. The opponent got to lead by 10. We tried to react. The game went on under the same circumstances and fatally wrapped up the same way. It’s a difficult moment for our team. The series was decided at 3-2. We made the break in the first game, but weren’t able to win at home next. Our effort was worthy tonight. But the season ends without any titles won. It’s a season for decisions that need to be made. We’ll take a couple of days to calm down and then we are going to be talking with the administration. Please allow me not to make a final assessment on the season, this needs to be made with the administration and that’s why I’m not going to be taking questions».
On his part, Brian Roberts, pointed out: «They were aggressive, they scored and controlled the tempo. The fans gave them the necessary boost. We fought, but we did not pull through. We have had ups and downs throughout the season. It was hard tonight, we tried to stick with the plan. We showed we have character, but it wasn’t enough. We have had a lot of unfortunate incidents and injuries throughout the season. While we have a good roster and we could have done better, the reality is that the results did not come. The season is over and we need to look at our mistakes».
The general director of Olympiacos BC, Mr.Christos Stavropoulos, stressed: “Congrats on the wonderful atmosphere in OAKA, just like I would like to congratulate the three refs of the game".