Greek Cup F4: The ‘reds’ will be playing against AEK in the semis
Monday noon (07/02) the draw for the Greek Cup Final Four took place at the Hellenic Federation’s offices. The Final Four will be hosted in Heraklion in Crete.
Olympiacos will be facing off against AEK (2nd semifinal), while the other pairing is that of Promitheas and Panathinaikos. Both games shall be taking place on February 18, while the final will be held on the 20th.
“We wish and hope for an incredible Final Four”, the General Director of Olympiacos BC, Nikos Lepeniotis commented afterwards. “We believe it’s a chance for Greek Basketball, after quite many years, to have once again a final four organized for the Greek Cup competition, to be at its best and have the best possible outcome. We think after too much time, we are going to have the chance and live two amazing days, that the fans enjoy basketball, that we all enjoy these moments and of course, may the best team win. We wish that Olympiacos is that team!”
“Asked if he thinks that the final is going to be a game between the two ‘eternal’ rivals, he replied: “The results for the Basket League up to now prove that no game outcome is predictable. Both we and Panathinaikos have had a hard time winning quite a few games. There is fatigue due to the Euroleague and back to back games, so it’s not easy anymore to be winning everywhere, like it used to happen in previous years. Of course nothing is a given. They are two very tough semifinals, both for us and Panathinaikos. However, I believe that Olympiacos will manage to cope and advance to the final. It’s definitely a fact that they are going to be two competitive semis, which is going to add extra value to the final four. And that’s how it should be … I don’t know the pairing of the final, but I hope that we are going to be there”.
Finally, asked about the participation of Olympiacos’ players in the National team games, he made clear: “On our part, there is no specific agreement. What the administration and the Presidents have conveyed to the Federation’s administration, is that our players are available to the National team. As you can understand, it’s a very difficult situation, because we play a Euroleague game on the previous day and the National team has its first game right on the next one. But I think it’s also a question to the players, how they are going to be feeling, if they are going to be rested enough to help. I think that it’s going to be easier for the players to play the second game. I don’t know who the National Team coach is going to be summoning for the team, but I think it’s a very good chance, at least for the Friday game, to have the fans enjoy the National team in a very competitive game, with as many Olympiacos and Panathinaikos players present possible”.