A tough loss to Armani at the SEF
Olympiacos did not succeed in continuing his impressive winning streak in Europe. In the first European game at the SEF for the season, the 'reds' suffered a tough loss to Armani Milano 75-99 for the 3rd day of the Euroleague.
Despite their inability to contain Micov in the first quarter (he scored 13 points during that time), the 'reds' succeeded in setting the tempo and getting a 4 point lead (17-13, at 7'), thanks to their superiority in the post. However, the Italians were quick to counter attack… Relying on their good perimeter percentages (7/16 threes in the first half), as well as the creative force of James, their turned the game around and gained a 7 point lead (37-44, at 18'). Finally, with pressing defense and a 4-0 with Printezis and Milutinov, David Blatt's players closed in at 3p. (41-44, at 20').
Olympiacos moved the ball better in the beginning of the third quarter, went to better offensive choices and regained the lead (4p., 52-48 at 24'). However, Armani exploited on the defensive weaknesses of our team, but mainly on its very poor shooting from the free throw line and led by James and Nedovic ran a partial 20-5 that gave them a +11 lead (57-68, at 29'). The 3rd quarter ended with the Italians at +10 (63-73), but our players did not have the necessary energy reserves to make the upset. They actually collapsed in the fourth quarter, since nothing was working properly on either end of the floor. At the same time, Armani continued shooting with excellent perimeter percentages, skyrocketing the difference to +23 (69-91, at 36'). The last minutes were merely procedural.
The quarters: 26-24, 41-44, 63-73, 75-99.
Οlympiacos (Blatt): Williams-Goss 4, Τoupane 2, Spanoulis 3, Τimma 4, Μilutinov 15 (10 reb.), Vezenkov 12, Printezis 13, Papanikolaou 2, Μantzaris 12 (2), LeDay 8
AX Αrmani Exchange Olimpia Milan (Pianigiani): Della Valle 3(1), James 22 (3), Micov 19 (5), Gudaitis 11, Bertans 5 (1), Tarczewski 4, Nedovic 20, Kuzminskas 6 (1), Brooks 2, Jerrells 7 (1)
«We suffered from mental fatigue»
David Blatt commented: "Congratulations to Armani, they played a very good game. We suffered the consequences of a tough trip and mental fatigue. We weren't able to overcome it. I'll tell you what I also told my players. Things are never that good or bad they may seem. After three games, we have a 2-1 record in a tough Euroleague competition and we should be all realizing that we need to be at the highest level both mentally and physically to remain competitive in the competition. We thank our fans for coming to the gym to watch us. We thank our fans for coming here to support us. We should have offered them a better show. We hope to do that in the next game".
Asked on whether the up tempo Armani played had an impact on his players, he replied: "I think that both teams played fast. What impacted the game was that they scored 10 more threes than we did; these are 30 points of difference. If you see the stats, in game that we lost by 20 points, we have had 21 assists and they had 13. So, I'm not sure on who was running and who was passing. What I'm sure of is that they made their threes and made ten more than us. This is 30 points. They also executed 27 free throws to 18 of our own. We weren't going to foul line and that hurt us more than fatigue. I don't think that fatigue was a result of the tempo. It had more to do with our mental state than anything else".
The coach of the Italian team, Simone Pianigiani, said: "I'm happy for the win. It's not easy at all to win in this court and at the moment when Olympiacos has shown to have the right approach to the Euroleague, with two wins in two very tough courts. I told my players that the way we played against Real Madrid, when we played a great game, got to lead by 15, but lost our concentration in a couple of plays at the end and weren't able to get the win… So, I told them that we are a good team and we need to create the psychology that will help us take the next step. Today was the day to show our reaction to everyone. I didn't ask them to win the game, but rather to play a focused game and prove that we are getting better and are hungry in the competition. Olympiacos is a team with almost constant presence in the final four in the past years and it was really important for our psychology. That's what my players showed me tonight. We did not protect our basket in the first quarter, they scored many points in the post and got some easy offensive rebounds. We adjusted our defense better in the second quarter, but we stopped the ball at some points when attacking. We then maintained the same level of defense but also got to move the ball better. This was very important because we covered for the many big players of Olympiacos. I think we did a pretty good job".
Vangelis Mantzaris: "We did not make good choices in the offense and made turnovers, that were quickly turned to score for Armani. We did it once, twice… We just weren't to come back after that. We were playing with our fans by our side, we wanted to gain energy from them, impose the rhythm, but unfortunately it eluded us. If you get disappointed because you lost one game, you are good for nothing. Just like when you win a game, you can't be thinking that you are the best. This was an unexpected loss, but everyone can beat everyone else in any court. We need to show our reaction against Ifaistos and Maccabi".