A huge win in Tel Aviv!
Another huge road victory for Olympiacos! The team bested Maccabi Tel Aviv at the overtime (89-87 (regulation: 73-73) and is now solely focuses on the Friday home game (15/01, 20.30 CET) against Villeurbanne.
Although it took Olympiacos almost four minutes from the beginning of the game to find score (Charalampopoulos), this did not cost the ‘reds’ thanks to their good defense (2-2 at 4’). However, the Bartzokas’ players continued making one turnover after another and gave the hosts the right to set the tempo and gain a +8 lead (16-8 at 7’).
Relying on Giorgos Printezis, the ‘reds’ closed in 18-13 at 10’, but Maccabi found score from the perimeter and increased the distance to 9 points (25-16). This time, it was McKissic’s turn to carry the team offense (27-22 at 14’), however, the hosts got to strike from the 6.75m. arc once again (a distance that was unforgiving for Olympiacos up to that point, with 1/8 attempts), hence maintaining complete control and closing the first half at +7 (40-33).
With superb defense and Kostas Sloukas speeding up, our team tied the score 40-40 at 23’, while with a three by the 30year old point guard, the team got ahead 48-49. From that point on, the game was a derby… With Sloukas in a protagonist role, and Sasha Vezenkov and Giannoulis Larentzakis following suit, our team was at +4 (61-65 at 37’). Nevertheless, turnovers, bad decisions in the offense and … Wilbekin, turned the game around and Maccabi was found leading with +4 (71-67) with another 59.4’’ on the clock. Martin and Vezenkov ran a partial 4-0 for Olympiacos, tying the score 71-71, Dorsey and Wilbekin scored one free throw and missed one each, giving Maccabi a +2 lead (73-71), but Sloukas made both his free throws with 2.9’’ on the clock, sending the game to overtime.
Steadily relying on good defense, as well as solid scoring from the perimeter, Olympiacos made two back to back threes (Larentzakis and Vezenkov) and hence got a +5 lead (81-86), 52.2’’ before the end of the extra five minutes. However, missed shots, needless fouls and gaps in the defensive line, allowed Maccabi to hope, since Hunter made the score 85-86 (19’’ to the end). Larentzakis had a perfect score in the free throws roulette (85-88), but not Wilbekin. The American guard won a foul from Kostas Sloukas and three free throws (7.2’’) and with 2/3 made the score 87-88. In the last 3 seconds of the game, the Israelis sent Larentzakis to the free throw line once again, who scored one for two and wrote the final 87-89 on the score board.
The quarters: 18-13, 40-33, 55-52, 73-73. Παρ.: 87-89
«Great victory, great team work!»
The coach of Olympiacos, Giorgos Bartzokas, commented: “I would like to congratulate both teams. Both had been hesitant in the first part of the game, but the second one was much better, especially for us. We succeeded at playing much better defense on Wilbekin and we also passed the ball extremely well. It was a very important victory for us. I would like to give credit to my players for the team work. It was a great win, and great team work!”.
Asked on whether the win went to Olympiacos through defense or offense, he replied: “It’s always the same. You need to play well on both ends of the floor and be compact. First of all, we played much better in all cases of isolation that Maccabi plays, especially with Wilbekin and their very aggressive guards. Apart from a couple of tactical mistakes and if I remember well, we gave Wilbekin two easy shots, we were very good at this. There were two legs in the offense… One when Othello Hunter is in the line up, Maccabi plays defense with switches and we had to play in that condition. The other is that when the other big players play, Maccabi is completely different defense wise. I think that in the second part and during overtime, we handled these situations much better and won”.
When asked to comment Giannoulis Larentzakis’ performance, he said: “He’s a rookie with the Euroleague, the level is very high and he also helped us. He had been decisive against Crvena Zvezda and he was also decisive tonight, not only because of the important baskets he scored and the free throws, but also with his defense. That’s why I talked about team work. Because we have a group of good players. Tonight Sloukas, Larentzakis, everyone were decisive. We are waiting for Harrison and Papanikolaou to come back and be ready for the important part of the season”.
On whether he was sure that Kostas Sloukas would be making his free throws in the last seconds of the regulation, he said: Yes, I was sure. He continues to play the way we want him to. He’s our leader right now. Basically, he plays for his team mates and that’s very important. He wants to be passing the ball and he’s selfless. And when we need him to score, he scores. In terms of athleticism and physicality, he’s much better than what he had been in the beginning of the season and that’s why he’s been playing that good. And I’m not only talking about tonight’s game, but also about many back to back ones”.
On his part, Kostas Sloukas pointed out: “We did not make a good beginning. We were good with our defense, but not so with our offense. The important thing is that we made good choices later in the game and made some crucial shots. It was another final for us and I’m proud we won”.