Returning victorious from Russia!
Olympiacos bested Zenit in St. Petersburg 75-66 for the 7th round of the Euroleague and has returned to a winning path.
The ‘reds’ made a strong beginning in the game and with Hassan Martin in a leading role, got a +6 margin (11-17) at 5’. The hosts exploited the turnovers the players of Giorgos Bartzokas were making and relying on Hollins, who scored four of a total of five threes for his team in the first quarter (5/10) – turned the score in their favor with +1 (20-19 at 10’).
For about three minutes into the second quarter, Olympiacos failed to score, but, thanks to the team’s superb defense, that scoreless period did not cost them (22-19 at 13’). The ‘reds’ continued investing in their absolutely solid defensive game, found rhythm in the offense and with multiple players scoring succeeded in setting the tempo and closing the first half at +14 (27-41).
Bartzokas’ players were dominant in the 3rd quarter. Playing good defense and with offensive pluralism, they got to lead by 16 (38-54 at 28’), while with a bucket by Livio Jean-Charles they closed the third quarter leading 58-43. But the Russian team did not wave a white flag…
The hosts put a lot of pressure when defending, driving the Olympiacos players into multiple turnovers and ‘striking’ from the perimeter yet another time, they were able to close in at 3p. (60-63) at 36’. The ‘reds’ however reacted immediately. Sasha Vezenkov gave the signal with a three (60-66) and Olympiacos running a partial 12-3 easily sealed victory.
* Aaron Harrison suffered and injury in his right knee at 16’ and wasn’t able to continue playing. The American player shall undergo an MRI upon the team’s returning to Greece so as to assess the severity of his situation.
The quarters: 20-19, 27-41, 43-58, 43-58, 66-75.
«The victory was well deserved»
The coach of Olympiacos, Giorgos Bartzokas, stated: “It was a difficult game, which we had been expecting. I believe we deserved the victory because we were ahead almost throughout the game. At some points, we were leading with more than ten. To be frank though, we had a hard time in the fourth quarter, when we allowed our opponent to make a come back relying on the excellent shooters they have in their roster. We made a lot of turnovers during that quarter, coach Pasqual played zone defense and we wasted a few offensive plays until we adjusted. That was the reason Zenit returned into the game. However, with a couple good defensive plays and another couple in the offense, we succeeded in ‘finding’ the open players and finished the game as wanted. It was a very important victory for us, congrats to Zenit. I want to say that I’m really happy to have seen fans in the tribunes after a very long time. Because basketball is for the fans”.
Asked which Zenit team he thinks is tougher, the one the ‘reds’ played in January, or this year’s, coach Bartzokas said: “You can’t be comparing the two teams. The situation is different due to Covid. Sometimes, it’s not only about basketball, but rather about managing the whole surrounding circumstances. Almost the whole team got the virus and it’s not easy to immediately come back in good shape and into winning after something like that. They hadn’t played in a month. As I’ve been saying, each game is a different story and a different situation. We also have a different team compared to last season. I believe that this season we have a stronger one, but we need to prove this”.
When asked to comment the fact that all the players, except for Harrison who got injured, scored in the game, he said: “That’s the best scenario for any coach. We all want to have all of our players at our disposal and we believe they are good players. We have 15 players. I chose them and they are all good players. As for Harrison’s injury, we don’t really know what his injury is. He definitely has a problem with his knee, it seems not to be that serious, but we need to return to Greece, give him an MRI and see what the exact problem is. He’s a very significant player for our team and I hope it’s not something serious”.
A reporter observed that during the game, it wasn’t just Harrison that needed help from the medical staff: “Indeed, three of our players needed the attendance of our medical staff tonight. I’d like to say that we don’t participate the National League of our country and we don’t have consecutive games. We’ve been practicing a lot, but we only get to play one game a week. So neither this situation is easy for us. But this is our job and we need to be ready in every game. But that’s also why have a good roster, a lot of players and a very good doctor, that’s been helping our players to be ready”.
On whether he thinks that this season’s Euroleague is like a lottery, he said: “Yes, that’s my exact opinion. That’s why my philosophy this year is that you should be expecting anything. The only thing we can do, is to be thinking about the next day. We can’t be making long term plans that include many games… The only thing we should be thinking about is how many players are healthy and how our next practice is going to be or the next game. And that applies for all the teams. Some times, you get lucky. For instance, we played against Efes last week when they had a full roster, after Larkin had returned, now two of their key players are down with COVID… So, first of all, you don’t know how your team is going to be and you don’t know how the opponent is going to be either. But lets think about society before we think about basketball. It’s very important for everyone to stay healthy. We need to be very careful and remain socially distanced”.