A loss to Villeurbanne at the SEF
Olympiacos did not continue with his winning streak. The ‘reds’ lost at the SEF to Villeurbanne 63-69 for the 20th round of the Euroleague.
Our team played without the injured Hassan Martin and Kostas Papanikolaou, while Giannoulis Larentzakis, who was included in the 12 men roster, did not play due to problems with his lower back.
With Octavius Ellis initially winning his personal duel with the huge center of the French team, Mustafa Fall, Olympiacos got to lead 12-5 at 6’. The guests, however, put a lot of pressure in the defense, leading the ‘reds’ to bad offensive choices and with a partial 12-5 tied the game 17-17. Thanks to their successful perimeter shooting, Villeurbanne got ahead 26-24 (at 15’) and consistently maintained a small lead up to the end of the first half (33-34), mostly taking advantage of Olympiacos’ inability to score.
The ‘reds’ did not get better in the second half. On the contrary. Terrible ball movement, unforced turnovers and good percentages for Villeurbanne from the perimeter, resulted for our team to be trailing by 12 (45-54 at 31’). With a partial 9-2, Olympiacos came close to 5p. (51-56 at 33’), but in no point in the game the ‘reds’ succeeded in finding rhythm, which cost them dearly. The French regained complete control (53-63) and hence won the game.
The quarters: 17-17, 33-34, 42-51, 63-69.
"We got what we deserved"
The coach of Olympiacos, Giorgos Bartzokas, stated: “Congratulations to Villeurbanne. They played a very good team game. We, for yet one more time, following three consecutive victories, failed to play a difficult home game with a fighting spirit, selfless attitude or having realized the importance of the game. Especially having Papanikolaou off the rotation, who has been absent for many games now, as well as Martin and Larentzakis. We had to at least been fighters, regardless of our percentages. Instead of this, all the 50-50 possessions, that are really important for us, basketball coaches, went to the opponent. That shows something. It shows that the will and motivation were questionable for our team. We had an arrogant approach and got what we deserved”.
Asked about the performance of Kostas Sloukas and Vassilis Spanoulis, who rarely lose their concentration, he said: “I wouldn’t want to talk specifically about Sloukas or Spanoulis. I would like to say this… Our approach at the beginning of the game was not the appropriate one for these kind of games. We know we were missing players, the games are back to back, the other team is a capable one and is coming from a loss. So, you cannot not have the necessary assessment of the game. And this is obvious, not just from the possessions that we failed to get the ball when it was on the floor, but we would also receive a dunk or a bucket and a foul or two fouls. When you see that the players are not going after challenged balls and they are simply looking at it, it means a lot about your approach to the game. And of course, I’m responsible for it. Because if I don’t make this team to have the fighting spirit it needs, to have co-operations, to play together not only in offense, but also in defense, it means that our mindset is wrong. And it also shows from Sloukas’ score, he made two fouls early on and never entered the core of the game, or from Spanoulis’ assists. It’s obvious in everything, not just these two things…”
On whether he has made the calculations about how many victories Olympiacos is going to need to win a spot in the TOP-8, he pointed out: “This is completely contrary to what I try to enforce on the team. Whether it’s going to take 18 or 19 wins or any other calculations are totally wrong. The only thing we should be focusing on is the next game and this not a cliché. Olympiacos showed tonight that is not superior in talent to a team that ranks where Villeurbanne does. So, it’s clearly a matter of concentration. Absences are part of the game and we cannot be using them as excuses. What you need to be doing after wins is to be showing character, not after defeats. Because everyone can show character after a loss. The team comes together. If Olympiacos cannot concentrate after a win, regardless of winning or losing that game, because this also depends on the opponent, but if the team cannot concentrate to do the things we need to do to win, then this makes us a team of a lower level than what we really need to be”.
On his part, the coach of Villeurbanne, T.J. Parker, pointed out: “It was an important game. We had an amazing reaction following the game against Panathinaikos. Defense was the answer for us. We missed shots, we missed open shots, but that was Ok, since we got to play such a solid defensive game”.