The best player in the world, Giannis Antentokoumpo, is in Greece preparing for the new NBA season, practicing at the facilities of the Peace and Friendship Stadium. The 26-year old guard for the Milwaukee Bucks met with Vassilis Spanoulis and the Olympiacos’ captain gave him two of his jerseys.

Destiny? Dream? The sure thing is that the first hours of November 19, 2020 present to Aleksej Pokusevski a reality he had dreamt of and according to what he said to olympiacosbc.gr, was destined for!

The Olympiacos BC Academies together with Saint Paul invite you to the “Covid-19 & Sports” webinar co-sponsored on Monday, November 23, at 17:00 CET.

Olympiacos BC announces that a fifth membe3r of our team has tested positive for Covid-19.

Olympiacos BC announces that a fourth member of our team has now tested positive for Covid-19.

Olympiacos BC announces that a third member of our team has also tested positive for Covid-19.

Olympiacos BC announces that one more member of our team has tested positive for COVID-19. The specific new case, that is also asymptomatic, has not been in proximity to the team following the game against Alba Berlin.

Olympiacos BC announces that during the COVID-19 tests underwent by the members of our team following the game against Alba Berlin, a positive case was detected.

Olympiacos beat both Alba and his bad self! Following a terrible first half, the players of Giorgos Bartzokas came back in the second half and bested the Berlin team 75-71, for the 8^th round of the Euroleague.

The pressing defense of the Germans that used traps – hence stopping the ‘reds’ at barely scoring a total of 3 points in the first seven minutes – combined to bad choices and excessively too many turnovers our team was making, allowed Alba to set the tempo and close the first quarter at +12 (10-22). Giorgos Bartzokas “shuffled” the deck, however, no matter what line up he was using, he was not able to substantially threaten the German team, that increased the margin to +15 (20-35) at 19’.

A mini 4-0 run by Printezis and Vezenkov, gave the ‘reds’ the chance to close in at 11 (24-35) upon the completion of the first half, but the counter attack went on well into the second half. Solidifying their defense and with finally good ball movement, in addition to Livio Jean-Charles dominating the post, Olympiacos forced a two point game (35-37 at 25’). The Germans ‘struck’ from the perimeter and increased the difference to 4 points (40-44), however, a barrage of threes (one by Papanikolaou and two by Spanoulis), turned the tables for Olympiacos that closed the third quarter leading 51-44.

Then – continuously relying on its defense – Olympiacos succeeded, led by Shaquielle McKissic and Kostas Sloukas – to completely impose the rhythm and build a +12 margin (66-54) at 36’. The Germans took advantage of some hasty choices the ‘reds’ made and closed in at 7 (71-65) at 39’, but Olympiacos put all the money on its defense and reached final victory without substantially been threatened. The final 75-71 was made at the buzzer with a three by Granger.

 The quarters: 10-22, 24-35, 51-44, 75-71.

"We do not underestimate any opponent or any team"

The Olympiacos’ coach, Giorgos Bartzokas, stated: “Congratulations to my team for its effort in the second half. We really needed such a performance in the second half of the game, because in the first one it became obvious that these games are the most dangerous of the season. Unfortunately, we don’t get to play many games, we have focused at one game a week. And in this game, everyone need to be ready to fulfill their roles. I don’t believe we were arrogant or lacked the wish to win. However, following our great victory over Zenit in Russia, in everyone’s eyes this was a game we definitely had to win. Our performance in the first half was really poor. It took us to play some very good defense in the second one. We had to pass the ball more, find the open players and play with energy and desire in defense so as to make a come back in the game. Therefore, when the game was over, I was really appreciative of our effort, we don’t underestimate any win, either we get it by one point or more. This is the situation with the Euroleague right now. In times like these you need the support of your fans. Whoever got to be in the gym tonight, could easily say that the atmosphere resembled that of a church. Good luck to Alba”.

On whether the ‘reds’ are impacted by the fact they get to play only one game a week, he said: “We have expanded our roster and we use a wide rotation, because we believe that with the roster at hand we can utilize everyone and that everyone can be of importance. I don’t think we underestimate any opponent, I don’t think we get complacent, I think that when they get on the floor, everyone thinks they have to prove a few things to the team, to me, to his team mates and the fans about what their abilities and skills are. This causes hesitance, slow reactions, overthinking and we are not playing the way we should be playing. We began the first quarter with eight turnovers and most of them were under no pressure. That’s the condition of this season, empty gyms, one game a week, a lot of practice. That’s the reality and we need to be ready”.

About Livio Jean-Charles playing the ‘5’ position during almost the whole second half, he said: “Martin has had an injury. He has gone through treatments and underwent an MRI yesterday. He wasn’t 100&, but nevertheless came in to play. We get to try different line ups. Against Zenit, we played with Printezis at ‘5’ for a while and Vezenkov at ‘4’. Tonight we thought we had to open the court and I think that Jean-Charles played well on both ends of the court the second time he got in the game. He was good and that’s why I insisted on it. It’s not a matter of planning or tactics. Some times, the game leads you to make certain decisions”.

On his part, the coach of Alba Berlin, Aito Reneses, pointed out: “Olympiacos played much better than we did in the third quarter and that was the key to their victory”. When asked to comment about the guaranteed contract Alba is set to sign with the Euroleague, he said: “Yes, it’s something that makes me happy at the moment, however, the important thing is what’s going to happen in the future. Right now we don’t have our fans with us at the gym, we don’t produce revenue and we don’t know if we are going to be able to maintain our basic core. This is something that hurt us in previous seasons, when players like Grigonis, Gedraitis and Hermanson left… When the fans get back at the gym and we are out of this predicament, we are going to have the budget to build a core and be competitive in the Euroleague”.