A solid game and 1-0
Olympiacos combined a solid performance with offering spectacle against Aris for the first play-offs game and bested the ‘yellows’ 77-44. The Piraeus team leads now 1-0 and is going to Thessaloniki aiming to win and qualify to the semis.
Our team began the game well with Spanoulis and Dunston leading the team in offense. Thus the Piraeus team took the lead from the beginning and the first quarter ended 20-13.
Poor shooting and not so good choices in offense did allow ‘Thrylos’ to build on the difference into the second quarter and half-time was 33-26 for the ‘reds’.
‘Thrylos’ was domineering in the third quarter. Spanoulis and Printezis were simply unstoppable and the difference was constantly getting broader. With a partial 30-8 streak Olympaicos succeeded in prematurely ending the game sending the difference to +28 (63-35) at 30’.
The ‘reds’ were conserving their strength in view of the second game in Thessaloniki on Thursday and the game ended 77-44.
The quarters: 20-14, 33-27, 63-35, 77-44.
Olympiacos (Bartzokas): Petway 3 (1), Dunston 7, Spanoulis 18 (3 3p, 5 reb, 5as, 1st), Perperoglou, Papapetrou 8, Sloukas 4, Collins 13 (2 3p, 3 reb, 3as), Simmons, Lojeski, Printezis 16 (2 3p, 5reb, 1st), Mantzaris 8 (2 3p, 3as), Kavvadas.
Aris (Minic): Bohoridis 8, Pelekanos 12 (2), Gkikas, Tsakaleris, Asimakopoulos, Charisis 4, Larentzakis, Vezenkov 12 (2), Sarikopoulos 6, Mourtos 2.
GIORGOS BARTZOKAS: “I would like to say that playing at 4 p.m. on a working today is neither good for the fans, nor for the players as a matter of fact, and it shows from the way we entered the game. We spoke in the locker room on how we should be approaching these games and that’s why we had a better second half. We put pressure on Aris’ guards that suffer a lot after Athinaiou leaving. Our goal was to get the guys that are out of rhythm get into it. It’s not the easiest thing to do when you are out for almost a month. Our goal is to also win on Thursday. Each game is different. You should remember that we had a tough time in Thessaloniki in the Regular season. We are now focusing only on the next game; we shall be speaking later about what comes next. Olympiacos is a family, the atmosphere in the locker rooms is great, all players are very good personalities as well and you all know it. Mardy was accepted by his team mates from the beginning mainly thanks to his practice performances but also thanks to his personality. Of course tonight’s game makes him feel better, a lot better. He’s a very good player, he’s a very good perception both individually and team wise. But I would rather not talk about individual players, when we win everyone is great and when we lose no one is good. So let’s deal with our team as a total”.
IOANNIS PAPAPETROU: “We wanted to make a strong beginning, something we did not succeed in the first half. We began lacking concentration and energy and allowed Aris to stay in the game. What we need to improve on is our beginnings, we need to start strong and now allow the opponent play their game. We are now focusing on the second game”.
BRYANT DUNSTON: “I would definitely change an individual award with qualification to the Final Four. Of course it’s an honor for me (i.e. won the “Defensive player of the year” award for the Euroleague), but I would definitely trade it with qualification that would have been the best for our team. What we need is to play team defense and remain focused for 40 minutes. That’s how we want to continue to the end”.
MARDY COLLINS: “I now feel better about my role in the team. I have understood well what my coach and my team mates want from me and that makes me feel better. We need to continue playing strong in defense and rotate in offense. We need to keep up with the good work”.
MILAN MINIC: “Congratulations to Olympiacos for their course in the season. They have had some injury problems and did not play as they would have wanted to and when they found chemistry then the injured players got back in and chemistry was hard to re-establish. But I see they are at a good spot right now and we expect to see them better in the play-offs. Our goal had been to play organized basketball, but we weren’t able to do that in the second half. We were motivated, I think we made a good effort in the first half, but we did not play as a team in the second one. When you make 18 turnovers, Olympiacos will punish you. Congratulations to my players on the first half. As for the second game we want to be a little more competitive and better opponents for a few more minutes”.
NIKOS GKIKAS: “We come from a disastrous game in Rhodes where we had gone to win but lost the game and our psychology has not been the best since. We finished at the 7th ranking spot which sent us against Olympiacos, a better team than ours, with more energy, more solutions and better psychology. We came here with all had preserved in terms of energy and psychology. We competed for one half, but we collapsed in the second one. We need to try more in the second game and get the most we can”.
ZISIS SARIKOPOULOS: “I think that the combination of Olympiacos’ superiority and our bad psychology resulted in what you saw tonight. When you play against a team like Olympiacos you need to be extra motivated. With the exception of the first half, we never came to play. We did not do what we had wanted to. What we need to do is to be better, we need to individually prepare because tonight’s performance doesn’t do us justice. We all need to be mentally prepared as best as possible”.