After suffering another near-miss with a semifinals defeat, Olympiacos begins its latest title assault with a trip to new-look Baskonia.
Game Notes: Baskonia vs. Olympiacos



The Spanish team has a new head coach, with EuroLeague novice Paolo Galbiati overseeing a roster reloaded with the recruitment of promising talent such as Matteo Spagnolo and Markquis Nowell. Baskonia’s key player continues to be scoring ace Markus Howard, while backcourt facilitator Trent Forrest will hope to continue his outstanding form from the end of last season. Heading into his sixth straight season in charge of Olympiacos, Georgios Bartzokas has not changed much: the likes of Sasha Vezenkov, Evan Fournier and Nikola Milutinov are back to lead the Reds again. But Donta Hall and Tyson Ward are significant signings, adding more quality to an already loaded roster.
Game Videos
- Baskonia and Olympiacos have met 50 times this century, and Olympiacos has won 30 times. They met in the EuroLeague Playoffs twice - in 2001 and 2007. Baskonia swept the best-of-three series both times.
- The Reds swept Baskonia last season, pulling out a 101-102 overtime win in Vitoria-Gasteiz, with Evan Fournier making a personal-best 6 three-pointers. Olympiacos blasted Baskonia 92-69 in Piraeus with Evan Fournier dishing a career-high 9 assists.
- Olympiacos set a club record with 36 two-point shots made against Baskonia in a 102-85 home win in March 2010.
- The Olympiacos single-game record for steals is 7, which Arvydas Macijauskas set against Baskonia on October 25, 2007.
- In a come-from-behind 92-97 Olympiacos win over Baskonia in October 2022, Sasha Vezenkov collected 26 points and 7 rebounds for a PIR of 29 and shared MVP of the Round honors with that performance.
- Donta Hall spent last season with Baskonia before joining Olympiacos this summer.
- Olympiacos forward Alec Peters spent two seasons with Baskonia, from 2020 to 2022.
- Olympiacos guard Evan Fournier has been a teammate of Baskonia's Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot on the French national team. Together they won silver medals at the Tokyo Olympics and EuroBasket 2022.
- In an overtime home loss against Olympiacos last season, Baskonia center Luka Samanic scored a career-high 17 points.
- In November 2023 in Piraeus, Baskonia beat Olympiacos 74-75 on a game-winning shot by Codi Miller-McIntyre with 0.7 seconds to go. Tadas Sedekerskis had career-highs in PIR (27) and defensive rebounds (12) in that game.
- Olympiacos center Moustapha Fall dished a career-high 7 assists in that 74-75 home loss against Baskonia.
- Olympiacos center Nikola Milutinov scored a career-high 23 points and had 11 rebounds for a PIR of 33 in an 80-85 road win over Baskonia in October 2018. He earned weekly co-MVP honors for that performance.
- Papanikolaou made a career-high 6 triples, including one that sent the game into overtime, to rally the Reds to a 91-87 overtime home win over Baskonia in January 2018.