"I thought we were gonna win it," Olympiacos Piraeus guard Thomas Walkup recalled when thinking back to last year's semifinal defeat against Anadolu Efes Istanbul in the 2022 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four. Olympiacos lost in heartbreaking fashion to a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Vasilije Micic, meaning that Efes booked its place in the championship game at the Reds' expense. However, fast-forward one year and Olympiacos has the chance to make amends during the 2023 Final Four in Kaunas, Lithuania.
Olympiacos seeks redemption after last year's Final Four heartbreak
Article
5 Mins read
In terms of the story, being triumphant during last year's Final Four would have meant so much to Olympiacos. Prior to the 2022 Final Four at Stark Arena in Belgrade, Serbia, the Reds had gone five years without reaching Europe's showpiece club basketball event – an eternity for a club their size. Plus, it marked the last-ever Final Four for legendary player Georgios Printezis, the author of the most consequential shot in basketball history, a game-winning floater at the buzzer in the 2012 championship game. With 12,000 Olympiacos fans in the stands for the semifinals, everything was set up for a memorable occasion… until Micic decided to tear up the script.
Yet, having now achieved successive Final Four appearances for the first time since winning back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013, the club has plenty of reason to feel optimistic about marking the 10th anniversary of its last EuroLeague title with another European crown. Rather than feel down in the dumps about losing to Efes in last season's semifinals, Olympiacos had a league-best 24-10 record in the 2022-23 regular season before downing Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 3-2 in the playoffs to secure its spot at the Final Four.
The Reds have been arguably the best team in the EuroLeague this season, but the Final Four is a different beast; one shot going in or not can decide an entire season's work. Unfortunately for Olympiacos, it learned that lesson the hard way last year, courtesy of Mr. Micic.
"We had 12,000 red and white [fans] in there. I thought we were gonna win it. That was a difficult game to play in, emotionally I would say," Walkup continued.
Once again, the Olympiacos fans are set to travel en masse to cheer on their team, with thousands expected to arrive in Kaunas for the Final Four. These supporters were just as upset as the players last season following the semifinal loss to Efes, but their love for the Reds means that they are ready to once again act as the sixth man on the floor. There are always high expectations at Olympiacos, and that is something that Walkup has discovered is part of the club's DNA.
"Right away [when joining Olympiacos], I could tell what the standard was, and the standard was Final Four," he stated. "It's always [to be] EuroLeague champs, it's always what we're striving for. To be a part of that and be a part of those high expectations were great, but now it's to another level. Now, I feel like we're just a pack of hungry dogs going for it."
Coach Bartzokas has not only instilled an offensive scheme that has helped Olympiacos return to its former heights, but he has also helped cultivate a group that plays as a team. Always. Led by MVP candidate Sasha Vezenkov and with the always impressive Kostas Sloukas coming off the bench, it would be easy to point to those two, but the secret to Olympiacos's success is its team-first approach; anybody can be the star on any given night.
"One of the things I feel like has worked very well is the fact that we have a lot of veteran guys, guys who have played for years who have understanding and experience in the EuroLeague," explained Tarik Black. "Not only in the EuroLeague but just have been playing basketball for a long time, and we all respect each other. We don't look down on each other, but we have an even playing field with each other and we all look forward to filling our roles of what we need to do to help us win as a whole and I think that has worked very well.
"Obviously, Coach implemented that culture – he wanted that, right? He pushed it forward, he implemented that and he got guys, then we have guys on this team that bought into it. That's the beautiful part about it and, honestly, that's what has led us to the Final Four."
At the Final Four, Olympiacos takes on AS Monaco in the semifinals – the side it defeated 3-2 in a dramatic five-game series in the 2022 EuroLeague Playoffs – before a potential championship game matchup with either FC Barcelona or Real Madrid. Curiously, Olympiacos went 4-0 in the regular season against Barca and Real, the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, but it was 0-2 against Monaco, the No. 4 seed. Nevertheless, Olympiacos heads into the Final Four with redemption on its mind – and there's very few who would bet against Coach Bartzokas and his squad.