One more big opportunity lost
Olympiacos came to the fountain, but was not able to quench his thirst. The ‘reds’ lost to Barcelona at the SEF 74-76, for the 23rd round of the Euroleague.
Barcelona took advantage of the poor operation of the ‘reds’ in the offense, and got to lead by +12 really early on (2-13 at 4’). Olympiacos tried to react, however, turnovers (a total of 6 in the first quarter) and poor shooting from the perimeter (0/6 threes for 3/5 of Barcelona) did not allow them to (12-21 at 10’).
With improved defense and Shaquielle McKissic running the offense, our team closed in at 5p. (22-27 at 16’), but the ‘blaugrana’s’ reaction was swift… They ‘struck’ from the three point line and regained control (30-40 at 20’).
In the second half, the Bartzokas’ players became more efficient with their defense, found shooting from the perimeter and succeeded in turning the tables (65-61 at 36’). With a partial 2-8, Barcelona tied the game 67-67 and from that point on the game became a first class derby.
1:10 για το τέλος ο Βασίλης Σπανούλης διαμόρφωσε με λέι απ το 74-72, με 2/2 βολές ο Μίροτιτς ισοφάρισε σε 74-74 44.5’’ για τη λήξη, το τελικό 74-76 διαμόρφωσε 6.3’’ με 2/2 ελεύθερες βολές ο Χίγκινς (στο σημείο αυτό χρεώθηκε με δεύτερη τεχνική ποινή και αποβλήθηκε ο Γιώργος Μπαρτζώκας, διαμαρτυρόμενος για το φάουλ που χρεώθηκε ο Ζαν Σαρλ). Στον χρόνο που απέμενε ο Ολυμπιακός πέταξε δύο φορές την ευκαιρία να στείλει το ματς στην παράταση, καθώς τα φόλοου –κατά σειρά- των Μάρτινς και Σλούκα δεν βρήκαν στόχο, ενώ εκείνο του Πρίντεζη (που βρήκε) ήταν εκπρόθεσμο.
With 1:10’’ on the clock, Vassilis Spanoulis made the score 74-72 with a lay-up, Mirotic tied the score with two free throws (74-74, 44.5’’ before the end), the final 74-76 was written at 6.3’’ by Higgins, who scored 2/2 free throws (at that point Giorgos Bartzokas was ejected from the game getting charged with a second technical following his protests about the foul called against Jean-Charles). In the remaining time, Olympiacos threw the chance to send the game to overtime twice, since the consecutive put backs by Martin and Sloukas did not find target, while the one that went in (by Printezis) was after the clock had expired.
* Our team played without the injured Sasha Vezenkov and Kostas Papanikolaou.
The quarters: 12-21, 30-40, 53-50, 74-76.
"Everyone saw what happened"
Giorgos Bartzokas’ associate, Christos Pappas, participated the post game press conference, since the Olympiacos’ coach had been ejected with two technical and was not eligible to attend according to the by-laws.
“With the exception of the first quarter, we put up a very good effort during the remaining thirty minutes on both ends of the floor. Also, taking into consideration that during the last 21 days, we played seven very demanding games, both physically and mentally. All in all, we should be congratulating our players tonight for their effort and the way they got to stay in the game, especially from a mental point of view. I think that certain situations did not help us into winning the game. You all saw what happened”.
About the fact that during recent games, Olympiacos seems to be ‘freezing’ in the last minutes, he commented: “It’s a problem that we have facing with this year’s team, because we have quite a few inexperienced players at that level. This is not only a factor in the game per se, but also at practicing, with our daily routines. I think that the way we approach a game is important and we have to be dealing with that on a daily basis”.
Barcelona’s coach, Sarunas Jasikevicius, pointed out: “Congratulations to my players for the win. It’s always difficult to win here at the SEF. We played a good solid first half, following the rules in defense and while we hadn’t been great offense wise, we were quite good according to my opinion. In the 3rd quarter and at the beginning of the 4th, we collapsed. We did not have rebounding. Olympiacos grabbed 17 offensive boards and with our 18 turnovers, I think we should be glad we got to win”.