Substantial show in Rhodes
Olympiacos offered a substantial show in the home court of Kolossos Rhodes and won 94-61 reaching four victories in equal games for the Greek League.
The Back2Back European Champions did not start the game as they should have. The players of Giorgos Bartzokas seemed to lack concentration in their defense hence Kolossos took an 8-2 and then a 22-18 lead in the first eight minutes of the encounter.
However, it was Lojeski and Spanoulis that took over and the ‘reds’ ran a 16-0 streak thus gaining a 22-34 lead. The 16-0 streak became a 30-3 partial run for Olympiacos and thus the score difference went above 20 points for the first time (25-48). With Mat Lojeski and Vassilis Spanoulis adding a total of 27 points with 11/11 shots Olympiacos was leading 37-57 at half-time. In the third quarter, the Piraeus team maintained the margin above 20 points with the quarter closing at 53-77 and Olympiacos offering a substantial show.
In the fourth quarter the players of Giorgos Bartzokas went on with the same pattern and the difference went beyond 30 points with Olympiacos succeeding his fourth victory in the Greek League in four games thus continuing being undefeated in all participating competitions.
Τhe quarters: 22-31, 37-57 ,53-77,61-94
Kolossos Rhodes (Fragkias): Papantoniou 2, Ram 2, Matsamas, Georgalis 7, Smith 2, Stefanidis 5 (1), Simpson 16, Tsamis 8, Pruitt, Osmpi 19.
Οlympiacos (Bartzokas): Petway 12, Law 9 (2 3p, 4as), Dunston 10, Spanoulis 14 (1 3p, 5as,2st), Perperoglou 12 (4/5 3p), Sloukas 2, Simmons 6, Lojeski 15 (3/3 3p), Begic 2, Printezis 7, Mantzaris 5 (1), Katsivelis.
GIORGOS BARTZOKAS: “In the first quarter, both teams played a very good offensive game with a big score. Of course, we weren’t happy with how we were defending. We built a 20 points lead at the end of the first half and then the game kind of relaxed, since we wanted to give minutes. Kolossos had both his foreigners in a good day and based on them I believe they are going to do well next. I wish the coach and Kolossos all the best. We have to forget about today and focus on the game against Siena”.
DIMITRIS KATSIVELIS: “It was a good game in general if we take out the beginning for the first quarter when we weren’t as focused in defense. We worked on that later in the game and I think we played quite well. We have a few days ahead of us to work on the game against Siena”.
VASILIS FRAGKIAS: “The good thing for us is the Simpson has begun finding himself and justifying why we brought him on the team. That’s what we are keeping from today’s game, since from the moment Olympiacos stepped on the accelerator there was no way for us to follow. The other thing we keep is that it was a spectacular game for the fans to enjoy”.
MPAMPALE OSMPI: “We started the game well, but then we made some easy mistakes and the game opened up, which was definitely in favor of Olympiacos. This was a good test for us to see the level we are at and work as to become better”.