Restart with a win in Munich!

Olympiacos bested Bayern in Munich 72-62 for the 8th round of the Euroleague and returned to the path of success after three back to back defeats in Europe !

Now David Blatt and his players turn their whole attention to the home game against Real Madrid (22/11, 20.45), that will be taking place in less than 48 hours!

 

The 'reds' seemed capable of imposing the tempo in the beginning (the got to lead by 6p., 4-10 and 6-12). However, their subpar defense and poor shooting from the perimeter did not allow them to do so… With Derrick Williams scoring almost exclusively, Bayern replied with a partial 9-2 and took a 3p. lead (15-12). A three by Spanoulis - the first one for the team up to that point out of six shots - Olympiacos tied the game 15-15 (at 10'), while Zach LeDay wrote the 15-18 from the same spot at 11'. But Olympiacos did not succeed in remaining in the driver's seat…

 

David Blatt's players made a lot of unforced turnovers and continued shooting very poorly, but nevertheless, were saved by their defensive performance… Bayern did not succeed in leading by more than 3p. (27-24 at 17'), while in the three minutes that followed up to the end of the first half, Olympiacos succeeded in turning the situation around running a partial 7-0 (27-31).

 

With Nikola Milutinov at the tip of the offense, the 'reds' found themselves at +5 (33-38, at 24'), a 'blank' offensive period however, allowed the German team to once again take the lead (39-38). The game was a derby (49-50) up until 33', when Janis Strelnieks took over! The Latvian guard gave the signal, the captain followed and with a partial 14-4 our team was at +11 (53-64 at 36'). The hosts tried for the come back, but Zach LeDay, Vassilis Spanoulis and Janis Strelnieks maintained the distance for their team and led the 'reds' to a very significant road win for both ranking and psychological reasons.

 

The quarters: 15-15, 27-31, 43-45, 62-72

"It was a very intense game. It wasn't a pretty one, but it was a true basketball battle. I think that if you want to have a good season, you need to find the way to win. This is what we did tonight. Bayern has had a good season up to now, they have surprised many people the way they've been playing and with some of its success with the Euroleague. So I'm happy and proud for the effort my players made against a good team. It was a much needed victory", David Blatt stated.

And he continued giving all the credit to Kill-Bill… "First of all, Vassilis Spanoulis led us superbly during the game… He came in and took care of business. If I remember correctly, he scored seven point in a row, passed the ball excellent, he made good decisions and really helped us find the solutions against a tough defense like that of Bayern. We also won the rebounds, 39-32 and this is always an important factor in regard to possessions. It's a very important stat for us. Unfortunately, although understandable, we made a lot of turnovers. Bayern pressed us and we made some turnovers that hurt us and lost the chance to winning with a greater difference. Some of them were the result of our opponent's good defense, others of our absent mindedness. Bayern fought hard. They have played some very good games this season and it was a really tough game". 

 

When asked to reveal what it is he told his players after the end of the 3rd quarter, he said:"I told them, guys it is obviously a defense game. So we need to play defense of the highest level to win. We cannot just go for 5 or 6 three pointers out of the blue. You play good defense and we may have had our best quarter at a key point. We may have not scored, but we remained in the game… We physically fought, showed reflexes and played a winner's game… So I told them play defense at the highest level, put the ball down and we did that…"

 

Asked about the performance of Janis Strelnieks, he replied: "I'm glad you asked me that. We played three games in a row without him and lost all three. He returned and this means something for this team. Because we need what he does on the floor. I hadn't said anything in regard… however, this has been happening through the season. You miss a key player, you lose some games and everyone is getting upset… But it's only logical. This happens in a season. Him returning and making the plays you saw tonight was huge".

 

On what was the reason for the three back to back losses before the win in Munich, he stressed: "Olympiacos is the best place I have ever worked for. It was very easy for me to take over the team and I mean that. It's a new team, with many new faces, many young guys who haven't had the experience of this level and the most important factor was the schedule. If you take a look at our schedule, all our games up to now have been against play-off teams or teams with huge tradition and a lot of success. So sometimes, you pay the price early in the season, but you can reverse the situation later on and you have the advantage. That's why I wasn't disappointed we lost some games, just like I don't get excited when we win one. I know what follows, I know what we have to do and I'm looking forward to it…"

 

When asked about the absence of Jovic and if he thinks this was a factor as to the result of the game, he said: "We were also missing Toupane, so we are even. Of course Jovic is an important factor for Bayern's game. It wasn't anything special for us. We anyway had to do our job without thinking who was playing and who was not. In all the games we have played up to now, it was always a player missing. We haven't had played with a full roster. That's part of the game. I don't expect for anyone to take pity on us when we miss any one player and I'm not going to feel sorry for anyone as well. I don't mean that in a bad way. It only has to do with the game…"

Asked on whether he's a power forward or a center, he replied: "That's crazy! I've been asked the same thing my whole life. I describe myself as a power forward that can also play the center position. That's what I've been doing my whole career. I train inside and outside the post to do the best for the team and bring energy. What I want is to be a fighter. I want to be doing a little bit of everything and help the team win".