The Reds are looking to reach their third straight Final Four
The Greek Derby showed why Olympiacos can dream big
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5 Χρόνος Ανάγνωσης
Beating your archrival always means more, but for Olympiacos Piraeus, its 71-65 triumph over Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens on Thursday evening was further evidence that it is a team to be reckoned with in the final stretch of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.
The Reds came into the game with a number of injury concerns, with Thomas Walkup, Nigel Williams-Goss and Giannoulis Larentzakis all doubtful, while center Nikola Milutinov – the club’s star addition last summer – has been out for some time due to surgery on a broken foot. In the end, Walkup and Williams-Goss were given the green light to feature, playing 26:28 and 18:29 minutes, respectively.
As Olympiacos head coach Georgios Bartzokas recognized in the post-game press conference, both Walkup and Williams-Goss had taken part in just one practice prior to Thursday’s derby, but their desire to play also reflected something that has become a calling card of the Reds this year: sacrifice.
Olympiacos and its never-say-die attitude
Injuries plagued Olympiacos throughout the first part of the season, but Coach Bartzokas’s squad has now reeled off six straight wins to put themselves in a good position to make the EuroLeague Playoffs. The triumph over Panathinaikos had big implications, too, as a win for the Greens would have seen them create a two-game advantage over Olympiacos. Instead, the two Greek powerhouses have an identical 18-11 record with five games to play.
“[I appreciate our] fighting spirit, which is always important. The refuse-to-lose approach that we have right now,” commented Coach Bartzokas. “Against Virtus, we were losing the game at halftime, something like 10-12 points; our defense was solid in the second half and we won the game. Today, Panathinaikos started really well and it was once again the same result.
“Basically, I believe it’s the sacrifice of our players, the desire to help the team, without any selfish approach. We are going to be unselfish altogether here in the club playing, first of all, for our shirt. This is the only approach we can have for our team.”
That unselfishness was borne out in Walkup and Williams-Goss playing through the pain barrier, but it was also seen in players deferring to others if they had the hot hand. The most obvious example of this came with Moses Wright, who came into the game in the second quarter and erupted for 11 points before halftime, as he helped Olympiacos recover from a disappointing 7-17 start to head into the break with the score tied 33-33.
It was a real team effort all night long by the Reds, even if Wright was the star of the show by finishing with a career-high 19 points. The likes of Isaiah Canaan and Moustapha Fall didn’t have the sort of night that many were expecting, even more so given the health concerns surrounding Walkup and Williams-Goss, but it didn’t matter in the end. After all, Olympiacos was able to make a statement win in one of the most highly anticipated regular-season games on the calendar.
“Once the game starts in this type of atmosphere, you forget everything,” said Walkup in a post-game interview. “If we had broken bones out there, you wouldn’t feel it. The crowd was electric. It was really, really a fun game tonight. Shout out to the crowd at SEF.”
Defense remains key
The old adage is that defense wins championships. Well, Olympiacos came into Round 29 as the EuroLeague’s best defense and it certainly flexed its muscles on that end against Panathinaikos, recording 11 steals and forcing the Greens to commit 18 turnovers. By contrast, in Panathinaikos’s win at Real Madrid in Round 27, it turned the ball over just 10 times.
The 65 points Panathinaikos was held to is its lowest total this season and it is the fourth time that Olympiacos has given up a maximum of 65 points during this campaign. Particularly as we look ahead to the playoffs, that ability to lock in on defense will be crucial as Olympiacos goes in search of a third straight Final Four appearance and its first EuroLeague title since 2013.
“It was a solid [night on] defense for us – it’s not easy to allow just 65 points to Panathinaikos,” noted Coach Bartzokas. “We had 11 steals and they turned the ball over 18 times, which shows our ability defensively. We can say the only problem we had was with rebounding. But even with these numbers, winning the game is the most important.”
Olympiacos has a tricky fixture on the road at Anadolu Efes Istanbul in Round 30 next Tuesday night, before hosting LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne at Peace and Friendship Stadium two days later. Two wins for Bartzokas’s men would be key, yet given how tight things are in the standings – two wins separate fourth from ninth – there will likely be a few twists and turns in the final stretch.
Nevertheless, Olympiacos sent a message to the rest of the EuroLeague by shutting down Panathinaikos and grabbing the win. There has been a bit of doom and gloom surrounding the team at various points this year, but Thursday night’s triumph was evidence that Olympiacos fans can start to dream big. Again.