A loss in Madrid
Olympiacos stayed far for past good performances and lost in Madrid to Real 77-93 for the 13th day of the Euroleague.
The two teams gave a recital of poor shooting in the first five minutes of the game, which was obvious in the score (2-4). However, Real - contrary to Olympiacos that continued making back to back turnovers and zero facilitation (just like his assists in the first quarter) - opened fire from the 6.75m. and with Campazzo and Randolph leading the offense, got to build a +11 difference (21-10 at 10').
Kestutis Kemzura "shuffled" the deck, but the 'reds' continued not finding rhythm. On the contrary, the Spaniards went on loading our team's bucket sending to the difference to +19 (39-20 at 16'). At about that point, Olympiacos began awakening in terms of offense. The team found facilitation with Rochestie and Paul, passed the ball to Milutinov and Printezis in the post and closed in 41-30 at the end of the first half.
A three by Koniaris allowed Olympiacos a single digit difference (9p., 43-34, at 23'), however, the counter attack ended at about that point. Defensive gaps, needless buckets and one received, poor offensive choices, allowed the always precise from the perimeter Madrid team to reply with a partial 14-2 and regain complete control (57-36).
Relying on Causeur, the Spaniards ended the 3rd quarter at +24 (72-48), however, despite the victory already been decided, Kemzura's players denied to fall without a fight. Reed, Vezenkov and Koniaris helped close in at 13p. (90-77), while Carroll wrote the final 93-77 with a three.
*Our team did not have Vassilis Spanoulis at its service due to injury.
The quarters: 21-10, 41-30, 72-48, 93-77.
Real Madrid (Laso): Causeur 18 (2), Randolph 15 (4/), Fernandez 10 (2), Campazzo 15 (3), Laprovitola, Deck 2 , Carroll 4, Tavares 6, Mickey 8 , Τhompkins 12 (2), Τaylor 3 (1)
Οlympiacos (Κemzura): Punter 3, Rochestie 11 (1 3p., 9 as.), Baldwin, Paul 3 (1), Κoniaris 6 (2), Cherry 12 (2), Μilutinov 6, Vezenkov 12 (2), Printezis 6, Papanikolaou 2, Rubit 5 (1), Reed 11 .
"We need to be giving 100% to move ahead"
The coach of Olympiacos, Kestutis Kemzura, commented: "Congratulations to Real Madrid, they deserved to win. I'm disappointed from me team tonight, not because we lost. You can win or lose when you play against a truly great team. However, I'm disappointed from the way we fought. We were too soft. We weren't focused, we made too many turnovers, we didn't do the things we had said we'd do, and we did not execute our plan. Maybe we stayed at being satisfied by the way people talked about us after last week's derby. We played a good game then and it kind of placated us. We probably believed that we did the job that it's going to be easy from now on, that we are a great team now and the only we need to do is show up on the floor. But this is not true. It's not the case. We need to fight in every game. We are not at Real Madrid's level yet, we haven't been together as a team for as long as they have. We have talent, but the level of the effort is not the same. To me, that's the greatest disappointment. Our opponent had control and played basketball and we didn't stand a chance. We had some sporadic good moment, we tried to come back, but we either made turnovers, or were missing lay ups, we did not make correct use of the fouls and Real continued dominating the game. Tonight, we didn't stand a chance.
Asked whether this heavy loss is a step backwards for Olympiacos, he replied: "The lack of energy and focus was definitely a step backwards. You cannot expect to win with 19 turnovers. We were trailing by 7 or 8 points before they even got into the foul bonus, which speaks for itself. I think the Madrilènes got 6 offensive rebounds in the first part of the game. We weren't present. We weren't focused; we did not fight for any of these things. Given these facts, you don't have a chance at winning. Now, if this is a step backwards… If we don't give 100%, it will always be a step backwards. The only way to move ahead is to give 100%. Some players did that, but it wasn't enough. There are 2-3 for whom I can't complain, but it's not enough. We need to operate properly as a team".
On whether the development would have been different had he had Vassilis Spanoulis available, he replied: "You can never know that. There are twelve other players except for Spanoulis. This is the moment for them to come forward to show what they can d. I repeat, you cannot complain if you miss open shots. It's basketball, it's a game. However, I can't understand when we have a foul to give at the end, the opposing player is driving in, we know that, we see it, but we don't foul him. I can't understand that. If you don't box out, you will not get the rebound. That has nothing to do with Spanoulis".