Α morning stroll
Olympiacos bested Kavala 94-76 on the road and reached 18 victories for the Greek League. Printezis and Papanikolaou were the best for the winners.
The players of Giorgos Bartzokas began the game fiercely, especially in offense. The European and Greek Champions, led by Spanoulis, Papanikolaou and Katsivelis led 33-25 at the end of the first quarter. However, defensive problems were obvious and thus Kavala managed to close in at 52 – 48 by the end of the first half.
In the second half, however, Olympiacos improved defense dramatically and especially during the last quarter. Printezis and Papanikolaou were unstoppable and the European and Greek Champions reached a 94-76 victory.
The quarters: 25-33, 48-52, 65-74, 76-94
Kavala (Koronios): Panos, Arbet 13 (3), Manolopoulos 11 (2), Stefanidis 8, Pievalica, Velissariou 2, Mitrovic 14 (2), Tairu 12 (1), Achara 16.
Olympiacos (Bartzokas): Hines 2, Antic 8 (1), Spanoulis 11 (2), Perperoglou 4, Sloukas 2, Powell 6, Gecevicius 12 (4), Printezis 21 (3), Papanikolaou 17 (3), Katsivelis 9 (2).
GIORGOS BARTZOKAS: First of all, I’m in favor of games been held at this time. It’s a great opportunity for families to come to the gym. I think more games should be taking place at this hour. Of course we were interested in getting the victory in such a series of games we are facing. We got a tough victory, because Kavala played a very good first half and up to a point into the second one. We showed patience, we made the rotation with the players available. We reacted well against the zone, we were patient enough to try and find the free player, while against the low post traps we passed to the weak side and found our shooters unguarded. That’s how we scored 94 points in a road game, which are enough. We are keeping the will to play as a team and the will to go after the rebounds. Congratulations to our players, but also to Kavala, for playing free, but at the same time with discipline and was very competitive.
JOSH POWELL:
We did not play good in defense in the first half. We played loose and without energy. This changed in the second half; we played good in defense and got the victory. We are maybe tired, but as professionals, we shouldn’t be looking for excuses. We
have
to
give 100% ineverygame.
SOTIRIS MANOLOPOULOS: “We had been trying to find a way to stop … Ronaldo. Playing against the European Champion, you don’t have much to expect. We had a lot of absentees and we decided that whoever from us were to play, would try to enjoy the game and win something. We want to continue improving in view of the next games so that we achieve our goal that is to save the category. After the expected fatigue, we gave Olympiacos some easy baskets and then everything was over. We hope that the fans that came to gym enjoyed the game and they keep supporting us next. It’s been a long time since I’ve had so many minutes to play and what I wish for myself is health. The coach has been helping me a lot and the important thing is for the team to win”.
ANGELOS KORONIOS: Congratulations to Olympiacos. I will agree with coach Bartzokas that more games should be held at this hour so that families can come to the gym. We have had many problems and especially that of last minute with Coleman that cost us. What I had asked from my players was to win as much as they could from this game. What we had wanted to gain was to fix some mistakes we had been doing in defense. This strong game against Olympiacos has been a chance to do that and a good practice session. We played well in the first half, we made our shots, but it was only logical to get drained out in the second half due to the lack of players. We want to continue giving our best so as to improve.