A comfortable victory for Olympiacos
Olympiacos played with a . football roster of 11 due to many absentees and with an age average of 24 years, but this was of no impact on the Greek champions who edged Koroivos Amaliada 83-64 and have now a 6-1 record for the Basket league SKRATS.
Thrylos' played yet another game without Spanoulis, Printezis, Lojeski and Young but was of no consequence to the team of Giannis Sfairopoulos.
Olympiacos began one more game in an excellent offensive mode. The Piraeus team imposed their rules on both ends of the floor and were leading 24-17 at the end of the first quarter.
The Greek Champions continued in the same rhythm and playing excellent defense sent the difference to +15 (44-29) with Giannis Sfairopoulos giving minutes to Toliopoulos and Mouratos and the 'reds' offering a show to their fans.
The outlook remained the same into the third quarter. 'Thrylos' scored more than 20 points in one quarter and the difference was up to 20 points (73-53) at 30' with four Olympiacos players having scored two digits up to that point.
The 'reds' continued the same way into the fourth quarter and by playing a very tight defense kept the guests at scoring only 5 points in 6 minutes making the score 72-52 at 34'.
The quarters: 24-17, 44-29, 67-47, 83-64.
Olympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Papapetrou 5 (1 3p, 5reb, 1as), Strawberry 13 (3 reb, 3as), Τsairelis 7 (2 reb, 2as), Milutinov 12 (11reb, 1as), Mantzaris 8 (2 3p, 3reb, 6as, 2st), Hunter 12 (11reb, 1st), Τoliopoulos 4, Mouratos, Agravanis 13 (3 3p, 3reb), Hackett 6 (6reb, 3as), Athinaiou 3 (1 3p, 2reb).
Koroivos Amaliadas (Markopoulos): Davis 15 (2), Poulianitis 4, Georgakis 6, Vasilopoulos 11 (3 3p, 8reb), Counsil 5, Harding 6, Sinetos, Charitopoulos 9 (6reb), Trotter 6, Vardakastanis, Slaftsakis 1, Batis 1.
GIANNIS SFAIROPOULOS: "We are looking for the player that we cover the void that Patric Young's injury left. Finding a player with the specific characteristics we need is not easy. All the good big men have teams as well as contracts. It's sure that the faster we get him, the faster he'll be incorporated as a key cog to the team, but we're not in a hurry. We must make the best possible choice. Generally speaking I can say that I am pleased. We're playing without important players and we had to face an opponent that had already won three times on the road, plays very good basketball and possesses athletic players. We didn't allow them to play their brand of basketball; we controlled the pace from the get-go and had clarity. All the guys played and we gained everything we wanted from this particular game. We don't know when the player's that are out will be able to practice at 100%. The situation will be reevaluated in the coming days and we will know then. We hope to have them available for the next European contest, but we don't know yet".
D.J. STRAWBERRY: "We have a lot of injuries, but we still have enough players to win. What we must constantly do is continue the effort and get better all the time".
HARIS MARKOPOULOS: "Congratulations to Olympiacos for their victory, but also for the team's generally great season. We wanted to be competitive in Peace and Friendship Stadium, but that can't happen when the opponent grabs 21 offensive rebounds; when the opponent can score 17 points from our 18 turnovers, when they score 28 points from fast breaks. We tried to get better in the second half, but it was too difficult to get back in the game. We must forget this game and look forward to the next day; because if you stay focused on the previous result you might regret that later".