A great opportunity lost in Tel Aviv
Olympiacos missed a huge opportunity to leave Tel Aviv with a victory, paying for its turnovers combined with the good shooting of Scottie Wilbekin in the last minute of the game, finally losing 71-70.
Nevertheless, the result does not nullify the tremendous effort of the 'reds' that played without the injured Nikola Milutinov. It's also worth noting that the said game was the official debut for Shaquielle McKissic and Dwight Buycks with the red jersey.
With good defense and led by Shaquielle McKissis and Giorgos Printezis in the offense, Olympiacos maintained balance in the game (16-16 at 9'). With a 7-0 streak, Maccabi got to lead by 6 (23-16 at 11'), but the 'reds' responded immediately… They found target from the perimeter (despite the 0/3 threes of the first quarter) with Taylor Rochestie and Sasha Vezenkov and running a partial 10-2 found themselves leading by 1 (25-26 at 16'). However, the immense pressure of the Israeli defense (that led them to bad choices in the offense), combined to unforced turnovers, allowed the People's team to run a partial 14-0 and send the difference sky high (+13, 39-26 at 19'). With a three point shop, Brandon Paul made the score 39-29, which was the score that marked the end of the first half.
In the 3rd quarter, Olympiacos bet on its defense and with Wade Baldwin completely dominating the offense, succeeded in turning the tables and get ahead 37-48 (at 29'). With two back to back threes, Maccabi got to +5 (55-50 at 31'), however, with superb defensive game and Sasha Vezenkov 'retaliating' from the three point arc, the players of Giorgos Bartzokas got to respond with a 12-0 partial and were leading by 7 (55-62). Olympiacos steadily remained in the driver's seat up to 39' (65-69), however, a streak of turnovers began at that pooint… Wilbekin closed in at 68-69 with 3/3 free throws, Baldwin made one of his two free throws next to make the score 68-70, while with 10.4'' on the clock, Wilbekin with a three wrote the final 71-70. The 'reds' had the chance to try for the victory in the remaining time, but failed to even execute an offense.
The quarters: 20-16, 39-29, 52-50, 71-70
Μaccabi Τ.Α. (Sfairopoulos): Bryant 13 (3), Wilbekin 21 (4), Acy, Raynolds 4, Caloiaro 8 (2), Hunter 9, Αvdija 2, Jackson 3 (1), Dorsey 9, Cohen, Stoudemire, Zoosman 2
Οlympiacos (Bartzokas): Rochestie 3(1), Baldwin 13(1), Paul 5 (1), Κoniaris, Buycks 4, Vezenkov 9 (3), Printezis 8(1), Papanikolaou 8 (7 reb.), Rubit, Ellis 6 (7 reb.), McKissic 14 .
"We have potential"
The Olympiacos coach, Giorgos Bartzokas, stated: "It was a very interesting game. Some decisions at the end of the game cost us the outcome. Unfortunately, all the decisions we made and of course all those Maccabi made at the end were against us. We had a solid defensive presence in all forty minutes of the game and for me, the way we played defense, we should have won the game. In the last 2 - 3 minutes, we did all we could, and I'm saying that as a joke, to lose. We turned the ball over, we missed free throws, we offered free throws to Wilbekin… Everything… Even in the last play, we turned the ball over attacking. When you have chance to win such a game in Tel Aviv, you have to take it. We are a new team, we are learning. Of course we have had injury problems, problems with players that had been sick and others that weren't in perfect shape. Despite that, with the constructed defense we played we had to win the game. Congrats to Maccabi. We are focusing on the next game ".
On whether he thins that the 'reds' deserve a spot in the playoffs, he replied: "It's obvious that have improved defensive wise and I'm not talking only about tonight's game. It's been two or three games in a row that we have been playing solid defense and we also try to improve our facilitation. We weren't good in that part tonight; we had only 9 assists for 21 turnovers. Also, together with our 51% in free throws, they become very important numbers. We try to improve our collective defensive approach; we try to improve our team game. Following the loss of Spanoulis, we have to play more as a team, with more movement and everyone should be part of the game. Also, we have signed three new players, Ellis, Buycks and McKissic and I think that our team is now better. However, sometimes this is not enough. You have to win games. Everyone on the team thinks we can make it. It's not easy. There are many teams, the Euroleague is very tough, but since I came to the team, I stressed that we need to focus on the next practice and the next game. You don't need to be looking at the schedule. Because if you do that, you will be looking at the tree and you will be missing the forest. The only way to achieve your goal is to be getting better each passing day. If you have a good team, if you have confidence and believe in yourself, then you are going to be getting the important victories. It seems that our confidence is on the rise. We have more faith in our team. We got to trail by 13 and succeeded to turn the situation around through our defense, take the lead and finally lose the game due to our own mistakes. Of course, the only thing that counts in professional sports is winning. So, we are not happy for that. But I still believe we got potential. I'm optimistic for our team".