Substance, show and 10-0

Olympiacos bested Ilysiakos 113-75, offering in incredible show and has a 10-0 record for the Greek League.

Giorgos Bartzokas did not use Pero Antic and Stratos Perperoglou, so they could get some rest. Giorgos Georgakis and Dimitris Katsivelis were the ones to replace them. In the beginning of the game, the ‘reds’ faced some defensive problems and the first quarter finished with a 21-18 score.

In the second quarter, Printezis and Papanikolaou with continuous scoring gave their team the lead (55-43). In the second half, the ‘reds’ playing amazing defense, began building tempo and playing back to back amazing plays. The difference was +24 at 30’.

In the last quarter, Georgakis and Katsivelis literally grabbed the opportunity offered and contributing some very nice plays themselves helped Olympiacos reach the final 113-75.

Τ he quarters : 21-18, 55-43, 82-58, 113-75

Ο lympiacos (Barztokas): Hines 9 (2reb), Law, Spanoulis 2, Sloukas 13 (3/3 3p., 8as.), Μavroeidis 7, Powell 14 (1 bl.), Gecevicius 17 (3 3p.), Printezis 24 (11/14 2p.), Papanikolaou 18 (2 3p., 8 reb., 7as.), Mantzaris, Georgakis 5, Katsivelis 4 (4as).
Ilysiakos (Ζevgolis):  Arapis 2, Αpostolidis 5, Chatzis 2, Spanos, Dorkofikis 12 (1), Αntonakis 7 (1), Varnavas, Spyridonidis, Jones 13 (16reb.), Paragios 2, Stoglin 32 (3 3p.).

GIORGOS BARTZOKAS: “We played a very good game and my players deserve congratulating. It proves that 13:00h is the ideal time for a jump-ball for that kind of games; it’s actually the best for basketball. I’m happy to have seen a lot of kids and families in the tribunes, since it was day time and most suitable for them. In regard to the game against Ilysiakos, we saw the game as a strong practice despite having played against Armani only 40 hours earlier. We passed 30 assists, upped the tempo and everyone at the gym had a good time. We got the chance to rest some players like Perperoglou and Antic while everyone else got minutes. OurmaingoalwastogiveminutestoKatsivelisandGeorgakis”.

On the performance of Giorgos Georgakis: “He deserves a lot of praise for the effort he’s been putting in and you should know that when he joins practice, the rhythm does not get messed up at all. This is very important and helps us a lot. From that point on, be sure that whenever he comes on the court he’s going to be competitive”.

On a possible transfer: “We don’t think about any transfers, although there is a vacant foreigner place. We had said that we were only going to sign a new player in case of an injury or discipline problems. The latter is out of the question, for the former, I wish it never happens. We know the market due to high expectations, but we don’t need to sign a player at this time”.

GIORGOS GEORGAKIS: “I wish to thank the coach for giving me the chance to play. We played well. It was tough for me at the beginning, I had to try to get to the rhythm, and I did the best I could. I fought and I’m going to fight more next”.