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Olympiacos puts up +90 points but Yiannis Fileris writes about the need to play defenses like those terrible ones in the third quarter that gave Evan Fournier the opportunity to signal a counter attack. Vildosa key and a standard duo, on which the whole “red and white” edifice rests.
In its last four games, Olympiacos scores an average of 94.2 points. Three in 94 and one in 95! A superficial reading is that in this exuberant 5-0 run by the “red and white” team, the dominant role is played by their awesome and formidable attack.
Yes, except that in order to secure these consecutive pink cards, he had to play… defense at times. It is not possible, in a demanding competition like the Euroleague, to believe that only with your attack you will achieve victories.
This is how it happened yesterday in Belgrade, where Maccabi is based, where Olympiacos managed to extend its winning streak, reaching a total of 7-3, winning for the second time away from SEF. It took an impressive third quarter and a partial score of 28-10, which corrected Piraeus’ second period smudges and brought the victory.
Olympiacos was losing by 11 points at the beginning of the half. He made a salad in the previous quarter, when he completely ruined the good image of the first period, made all the mistakes together and suddenly he was on the canvas. The partial score was 29-13, the Israelis had regained their confidence, which the computer-programmed Greek team, in the first ten minutes, had destroyed.
Where he controlled the match, with Barzoka having the comfort of rotation early on, Maccabi made a terrible demarcation and Olympiakos of zero mistakes (and 8 assists) in the first quarter, looked like a stunned chicken. He was eating three-pointers, missing rebounds, getting caught by surprise. Something had to be done, because the Israelis had comfortably reached 53 points. And if they scored sixty, the way their opponents played, it would be anything but a surprise…
Vildosa pressure lever
The Olympiacos players knew that they needed toughness, readiness in every phase, in every contested ball. Bartzokas brought Walkup back into the match, who had two fouls, and kept Luka Vildosa next to him.
The Argentinian locked down the defense, pressured the ball, got a steal, broke open and finished with 10 points, 4 assists and 2 steals in 31:51 minutes of action, the most of anyone on his team. Quite flattering numbers for Vildosa, who has both the talent and the guts to be a star at this level.
The truth is that at Panathinaikos he was not able to show all this. He was playing a little, at the first mistake he was out, he was injured at the beginning, the others overtook him and Ataman – after the arrival of Nan – left him out of the rotation. Olympiacos gives him a second chance and the 27-year-old point guard has grabbed it by the hair. He is already enjoying it!
Fournier serves croissants (again).
Having found their balance in defence, with the tall man staying back a bit to intercept passes behind the back of the defence, Olympiacos was almost certain to regain their momentum in attack as well. Evan Fournier, who had come out early in the first half, did the job as in the previous matches. The Frenchman is getting better from game to game, he has fully adapted to what his team asks of him and let’s not forget he comes from the unpredictable world of the NBA.
Fournier led the charge in the second half and completed a four-game hitting streak averaging 20.2 ppg and 46.4 percent from 3-point range. He’s hot, doesn’t take responsibility and takes the big shots, which he usually does. It is no coincidence that Maccabi re-entered the competition for victory when Fournier found himself towards the end of the match, to take two or three breaths.
As soon as he stepped on the floor again, he took the ball and “popped” the most important of the three three-pointers he hit and while the timer showed two minutes to the end, Olympiacos took a four-point lead. It turned out to be enough to get him the double.
Most important of all for the relationship between Fournier and Olympiakos is the tremendous will of the 32-year-old star to succeed with the “red and whites”. The motivation that his new team has given him again, here in Europe, is huge. He plays with a lot of passion and accepts the challenge, every time, to take (and put) the big shots…
The standard Vezenkov-Milutinov duo
Fournier is the guarantee of Olympiakos, its life insurance when the matches get tough. There is also a duo, however, who are the pillars to support the entire edifice of this year.
⛏ Sasha Vezenkov, in another match this year, finished with at least 20 points. It is the fifth time this year that the Bulgarian ace has such a performance. Of course, in none of the seven total of the period did he have a single-digit number. This time he put up 21 points, on 4/6 shooting and 10/11 shooting, hitting four in a row at the end. .
⛏ And Nikola Milutinov is becoming a central point of reference in the racket. The Serbian made his European reappearance with Real. In the remaining four games he is amazing averaging 12 points and 7.7 rebounds. And yesterday was a catalyst, as well as decisive. The Serbian looks more mature than ever, he plays big matches and is still not at 100% of his strength, after his injury…
With these three in the front line, Olympiakos was joined by the good defenses of Walkup, the substantial help (in the second half including the big shot at the end) from Goss and the good five minutes of Fal (half of the third period) and many won contested balls, a sign of their determination to turn the tide of the match which had gone dangerously awry in the near-disastrous second quarter…
It builds character
Wins are the first priority in the Euroleague. And Olympiacos reached a total of 7 in the first ten games. He made an impressive 5-0 that slowly raises him to the first steps of the ranking, where he aimed to be from the beginning. Streaks, meanwhile, also build character. The team fills with confidence, steps firmly on its feet and … scares its opponents.
Next week, Baskonia, who plays better away from home, visits SEF, but Olympiacos obviously won’t sit around making jokes with Lasso’s team.
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