100 points and a new record for Spanoulis! (vid)
Olympiacos easily edged AEK 101-75 for the 12th day of the Betshop Basket League and is now focusing on the Tuesday game (08/01, 20.00 CET) against Baskonia at the SEF. The highlight of the game was the new record set by Vassilis Spanoulis, who is now leading the list of players with the most assists in the history of the Greek League!
The aggressive defense played by AEK did not allow our team find rhythm in the first quarter. Relying on their good perimeter percentages, the guests got to lead 18-19 at 12', however, with Vassilis Spanoulis at the point, our team closed the first quarter leading 25-21. The 'reds' were even more effective defending later in the game, dominated the rebounds (they grabbed 19 boards for 7 of AEK's in the first half), moved the ball exquisitely and with offensive pluralism completely controlled the game (52-37).
Olympiacos closed the first half leading 52-39, however, sped up in the second half… Playing very good defense, once again opened fire from the 6.75 m. and skyrocketed the difference to +23 (68-45 at 26'). Despite the game becoming a solo performance, Blatt's players stayed focused on their defensive game, being at the same time very creative with their offense and increased the distance even further (88-61, at 35'). The final 101-75 was written by Janis Timma with a three.
The quarters: 25-21, 52-39, 74-56, 101-75.
Οlympiacos (Blatt): Vezenkov 11 (1), Μilutinov 9 , Μantzaris 3 (1), Strelnieks 8 (1), Τimma 17 (5), Printezis 13(1), Spanoulis 14 (3), Bogris 6, Papanikolaou 1, Williams-Goss 9, Τoupane 5 (1), LeDay 5
ΑΕΚ (Banchi): Maciulis 11 (2), Tsalbouris 2, Hunter 15 (1), Griffin 4, Saint-Ross 15 (3), Μoraitis, Xanthopoulos, Sakota 4, Larentzakis 9 (1), Giannopoulos 5 (1), James 10.
«Happy and proud for Vassilis»
David Blatt commented: "I think that our players approached the game with great motivation and high readiness levels. I'm very happy for that. AEK is a good team. We have all seen how they play this year. We turned a tough game into an easy one. Believe me, it wasn't easy, especially after the effort and the intensity of Friday's game. I took a look into the results of the Euroleague teams, and except for Olympiacos and Panathinaikos, most of them 'struggled' to win, while some lost. It's not easy to play so many difficult games in less than 48 hours. I say that because we have to do the same on Tuesday. Baskonia is a quality team. It's a tough game, however, we played well tonight and rested players sharing minutes".
He then talked about Spanoulis' record: "It was great for all of us on the team to be part of Vassilis' record. It's a special feeling and we were overjoyed and proud for Vassilis. When you are a player and you come to surpass players like Galis and Giannakis, then that's really special".
Asked of Janis Timma proved against AEK that he has things to offer, he replied: "Maybe it has to do with not having the time to prove it. So, this has more to do with me than him. When you have a roster full of good players, at some point a couple of them don't have the chance or the minutes to show what they can do. That's why you get players of good character that care for the team. And that's wonderful. Timma is a very good person and a very good player".
On his part, AEK's coach, Luca Banchi, pointed out: "It's hard to comment on a game like this one. It is certain that Olympiacos is in great shape. We had prepared to play a different kind of game. The first fifteen minutes were kind of promising. Our plan was that we had to make good decisions in the game so that we could control the rhythm. We were lacking size, athleticism, even talent in comparison to such a huge roster. What we were lacking the most tonight though was the will to remain competitive to the end. As soon as we lost touch with the score, we started playing without passion, without balance and discipline. How can you compete when you have percentages like these ones, we missed a lot of chances to score from the perimeter in the fast break or shooting open threes. Our goal is to compete at every level and tonight we did not have the quality to compete at this level. We need to be able to play against high level teams. It's not that we don't have players or that we are changing players, we shouldn't think that this would be making our mission easier. We got two new players, but we can't expect that the team improves immediately. I need the best from everyone to compete at this level. It's impossible to play if you are not perfect. Theodore cannot play in Greece or in Europe before next week. He will not be traveling with the team to Bamberg and he will start practicing with the team on Wednesday".