Spanoulis for three and… 1-1!
Olympiacos beat Panathinaikos at OAKA 68-66 for the second final game of the Basket League SKRATS and tied the series 1-1.
'Thrylos' reacted in the best possible way to Panathinaikos' break with a break of their own and tied the series. The third game shall be played on Thursday at the Peace and Friendship Stadium.
THE DEFENSE: The defense was definitely improved compared to the first game at the Peace and Friendship Stadium. Giannis Sfairopoulos ordered switching at all screens, hence the Piraeus players got to put a stop to the hosts creative game in many parts of the game, forced them to score 17 points less compared to the first game and won 66-68.
THE OFFENSE: The offense once again worked well. The players of Giannis Sfairopoulos had a lot of open shots, however, they were not shooting on target and thus missed the chance to seal the game earlier on.
THE MVP: Giorgos Printezis shares the title with Vassilis Spanoulis. This is because 'Print', despite his personal drama, was once again AMAZING while the 'Thrylos' captain did at the end what no other player in Europe can. He gave his team the victory with a huge shot and tied the series.
KEEPS, FORGETS: Keeps the incredible reaction to the shock of the loss at the first game and the fact that the series is now where they want it to be. At 1-1. Also keeps the fact that they maintained their calm and they keep a low profile since nothing is decided yet.
THE POINTS
Panathinaikos (Pedoulakis): Charalampopoulos 7 (1), Fotsis 6 (2), Feldeine 6,Calathes 8, Hunter 2, Radulica 3, Pappas 12 (1), Diamantidis 8 (1), Gist 9, Williams 5 (1).
Olympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Papapetrou, Spanoulis 11 (2), Milutinov, Printezis 20 (9reb), Mantzaris 7 (1), Hunter 7, Strawberry, Αgravanis 5 (1), Warrick, Hackett 2, Lojeski 7, Papanikolaou 9 (1).
THE QUOTES
GIORGOS PRINTEZIS: “It's important the way we reacted. What we improved is that we did not receive easy baskets and we generally controlled the tempo. We need to be better from now on, concentrate even more, improve, because nothing is over and we need to play even better at the next game. It's definitely a procedure that you cannot fathom should you have not experienced it (i.e. the passing of his father). I tried to get into his mind and figure out what my father would have wanted me to do at this moment and I tried to do just that. Olympiacos is my family too. Kids lose their parent, that's the way it goes. I would like to continue making proud all those that stand by our side. I don't think that anything has changed tonight, I think that we changed and did unjust by ourselves in the previous game. We have been working hard, we have a good chemistry and I think that we did wrong by ourselves in the first game. I think that we would be saying the same should we had lost tonight. What is there to say about Spanoulis? What he did was huge".
GIANNIS SFAIROPOULOS: "Before I start talking about the game, I would like to apologize to Mr. Pedoulakis and the people of Panathanaikos for not shaking hands with them at the end since I ran to celebrate with my players. We completely reversed our mental state. It was obvious in the first quarter. We were in control of the game even when we were trailing, keeping Panathinaikos at low creative levels inside their home court. We were slightly leading in the second half, but we controlled the tempo through our defense, we did not receive easy baskets and remained focused on our plan. We deserved the victory at the end, although two huge shots were made by Dimantidis and Spanoulis. How we played proved we deserved to win, but even if Panathinaikos had won, they would too deserve to win. It was a team effort, despite Spanoulis making that huge shot and Printezis scoring 20. Everyone worked together and they deserve the credit. It's only a tied series, 1-1, nothing is over and I believe that we have the experience to manage this break on the previous break", while he also apologized to the coach of Panathinaikos: "I would like to apologize to Mr. Pedoulakis for running to the locker rooms and not shaking hands".
In regard to the last offensive play, he said: "We wanted to execute a pick n' roll and go for a two, but when they switched, it was one on one with Spanoulis".
He did not forget to praise Giorgos Printezis: "Giorgos proved to have a great heart. What he did was not easy, that's why we dedicate the victory to him».
On his choice not to foul on the last Panathinaikos' offense, he had to say: "It depends on the game. When Panathinaikos has scored 66 points and not 83 as in the Peace and Friendship Stadium, we chose to play with pressure on the defense. We believe in our defense, this is our philosophy. I did not want to give two easy points to Panathinaikos with free throws".
On whether Othello Hunter is influenced by the rumors in regard to a deal between him and Real Madrid, he said: "We deal with what we do on the floor. It might be true and it might not be. No matter what, everyone should be giving their best to their team, whether we are to remain with the team or not. This is to be a professional. We know that Guardiola has signed with Manchester City three months ago, but he was at the final with Bayern yesterday and won. Everyone tries to serve the team".
Commenting on the small number of assists Panathinaikos had compared to the Thursday game, he said:M "The 29 assists of the first game were the result of us not being mentally ready for the game. I do believe that we were lacking rhythm, since we had finished the series against AEK early on and had 9 days of not playing. Panathinaikos was shooting with great percentages and that's why that number was possible. We saw on video that had allowed 20 easy points, which was a matter of focus. When you are nor mentally ready, you're going to pay the price. You cannot find rhythm when you make a bad start. Tonight we took a lot of open shots and should we had made them, our victory would have been easier".