Our team didn’t make it
Olympiacos lost 82-71to Panathinaikos in the fifth and last game of the league finals in OAKA and couldn’t manage to hoist the champions’ trophy.
In the beginning our team got a 7-10 lead with back to back threes by Mantzaris and Lojeski. However, the lack of focus on defense later on was detrimental and Panathinaikos managed to get a 28-19 lead after one quarter.
In the second quarter Giorgos Bartzokas’ team continued playing bad defense and so the Reds ended the half trailing 53-32. In the third quarter Olympiacos finally showed signs of life, and on 17-24 run, got the margin to 14 points.
In the fourth quarter the Reds got the deficit below 10 points with help from Matt Lojeski but ultimately could not manage the ultimate comeback and thus lost both the game and the championship.
Quarters: 28-19, 53-32, 70-56, 82-71.
Panathinaikos (Alvertis): Bramos, Curry 5, Fotsis 10, Ukic 9 (1), Lasme 8, Mavrokefalidis 8, Diamantidis 11 (1), Gist 9, Jankovic, Maciulis 15 (1), Wright 7.
Olympiacos (Bartzokas): Petway, Shermadini, Dunston 11 (reb), Spanoulis 6, Perperoglou 7 (1), Sloukas, Collins 11 (1), Simmons, Lojeski 17 (2), Printezis 16, Mantzaris 3 (1).
GIORGOS BARTZOKAS: «Congratulations to Panathinaikos on winning the championship, it was a very tiring season for us with the way the Euroleague has become and we’re all tired physically and mentally. We were clearly affected by Sunday’s game. We lacked in confidence. Panathinaikos is a seasoned team and it was difficult to come back in a game with such a team. That wasn’t enough, a whole 40 minutes effort was needed. We were clearly affected by the way we lost on Sunday. Tough season, we lost the cup in our opponent’s home. With Real we lost in five games and I’ll repeat myself by saying that whatever happened on Sunday affected us. Congratulations to Panathinaikos and we’re looking onto the next day.
On Vassilis Spanoulis’ performance in the finals: «I decided that I should back this team’s leader and I still do. This team was built around him and I’ll support him now as well».
On whether he and his players did not do right with their effort: «I wouldn’t want to use such a definition, I said so on Sunday as well. I only want to talk about basketball and we did not succeed in it”.
On whether Olympiacos has some kind of complex, loosing with every possible way to Panathinaikos in OAKA: “Listen, you don’t want to label it as a complex, but you let me characterize it as such. When Panathinaikos lost Gist, you were right to talk about an important loss. We were playing without key players or ours last season, but you were talking about sweeping the series or whatever else. Each year and each game is different, all else is for you to publish your articles”.
On whether this season was disappointing: «Of course it’s disappointing since we didn’t win any titles. We came close to a lot of things this year but for some reason couldn’t accomplish them».
VASSILIS SPANOULIS: «I take full responsibility for the loss of the titles. I didn’t show up and play as well as I was supposed to. In sports we have to highlight both the good and the bad. We lost the title in our home court not in OAKA. The last two years were amazing. This season has concluded. We are done».
FRAGGISKOS ALVERTIS: «I want to say thanks to Argiris Pedoulakis, who’s got a really big part in this. I want to thank the guys that worked with me; it was a new thing for me. After countless hours, we managed to accomplish our goal. I did my duty, which was to make everything possible in order for Panathinaikos to win the championship. For the Final-4 matches, we had three good games but couldn’t do it. Things are never simple. When we lost our home court advantage, there was psychological pressure. That’s the point where some things you can’t describe come on display. Instincts? Self-preservation? You can understand from the look in your eyes; you either get up and try or just give up. I want to thank the team’s president for helping the team, our fans for being there for us after a tough loss in OAKA. Their coming to both practice and the hotel were really helpful and inspiring. It was our starting point. Panathinaikos moves on, we’re not finished after either capturing a title or losing one. Being able to get to know behaviors that I hadn’t been accustomed to, was a great new experience for me. I gained experience. Month by month you get better, but it sure was an amazing experience for me. I got to meet Mr. Bartzokas and appreciate him in this joint course of ours. There’s always tension and differences between the four lines of the court. A title as a coach is different than a title as a player. The emotions are different… I don’t want to say anything about my coaching future. The only thing that I’ve been thinking for the last couple of days has been the finals».