Failure against Barcelona
Olympiacos lost 81-72 against Barcelona for the third round of the Euroleague TOP-16 and is now at 1-2. This was the first home defeat for the Back2Back European Champions this season.
Our team began the game well. Spanoulis was creating, Printezis with Simmons were executing and hence the back2Back European Champions succeeded in leading by five at the end of the first quarter (23-18).
In the second quarter the ‘reds’ did not start the game well, lack of focus in defense and poor shooting took a toll on Olympiacos, something that Barcelona took advantage of and gained a 23-25 lead. Spanoulis took over, defense got tighter and with a dunk by Simmons at the end of half-time the Giorgos Bartzokas’ team made the score 34-32.
Navarro had all the answers for every kind of defense Olympiacos tried in the third quarter. Thus the Catalans managed to gain the lead and close the third quarter 48-55.
Olympiacos tried for the big upset in the third quarter. But every time Olympiacos was attempting to gain the lead, the team was making poor choices or got unlucky since the shots by Lojeski and Sloukas did not find target when the team was at -2. Barcelona controlled the game at the end and reached the final 72-81 victory.
Τhe quarters: 23-18, 34-32, 48-55, 72-81.
Οlympiacos (Bartzokas): Dunston 5, Spanoulis 17 (1), Perperoglou 8 (2), Sloukas 9 (1), Simmons 5, Begic 2, Printezis 17 (1), Mantzaris 3 (1), Lojeski 5 (1).
Barcelona (Pascual): Dorsey 6, Sada 4, Huertas 6, Αbrines 9 (2), Navvaro 21 (3), Papanikolaou 2, Oleson 14 (2), Lorbek 6, Nachbar 5, Tomic 8.
GIORGOS BARTZOKAS: “We made a big effort to win the game. I think Navvaro was decisive in the third quarter, infusing his team with great confidence by the way he was scoring. We had to play with short teams and play zone defense. This was rather helpful but it was maybe a few lost rebounds that decided the game. Unfortunately the momentum was not good for us because absences are very crucial at this point. Congratulations to Barcelona, we are looking ahead. Nothing is easy for Olympiacos because we are a great team. Barcelona was not in a good place 45 days ago while we had been, and now their momentum is great, they are all healthy and ready to play, while we suffer so many injuries. We are waiting for Petway to return, he’s doing better, while Moon cannot participate the first round. We hope to work well and with concentration, be healthy and get what we deserve”.
MATT LOJESKI: “We started out well, but when we got the difference we weren’t able to keep it. Navvaro scored some very big baskets in the third quarter, threes or out of balance shots. Barcelona gained a big lead and although we tried to the end weren’t able to finish with our comeback. We have to keep going”.
DIMITRIS KATSIVELIS: “Basketball is a team game. Navvaro began pretty well and team defense on him wasn’t good. He made some big shots and gave Barcelona a big lead at a very crucial point. TOP-16 is a very long tournament. We still have a long way to go. We did not begin well last year too but we were second in our group at the end. We have to work hard at practice stay focused and fix our mistakes”.
XAVI PASCUAL: “It’s always a pleasure for us to play in such an incredible atmosphere. We are very happy to have won a great team. It was a very competitive game. We had a rhythm problem. We had better choices in offense in the second half and were better. We now have Lorbek and Oleson and I hope we continue this way. I’m very happy with Papanikolaou, he helps us a lot and I hope that in the future he will help us more”.