Despite some key departures over the summer, the Reds remain a real force in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
Olympiacos’s winning mentality shined through in Greek derby
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Olympiacos Piraeus may have lost a couple of major pieces to the roster that came up just short of winning the title last season, but Friday night’s 78-88 overtime win over Panathinaikos Athens showed that the Reds are not going away any time soon. What’s more, the Round 1 victory made clear that the Reds’ perseverance and winning mentality are very much still present.
Olympiacos was without big man Moustapha Fall and fell behind by 10 points at OAKA against a new-look Panathinaikos, now led by two-time Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champion Ergin Ataman. Yet, it continued to fight in a back-and-forth shootout before dominating in overtime to secure the win.
“This is the quality of this team. Even when they were up by 10 points in the first half, we never gave up,” stated Olympiacos center Nikola Milutinov, who returned to the club this summer after three years away. The Serbian ended up playing 35 minutes at center without Fall on hand to give him some rest.
“We will never give up,” added Milutinov. “We will always play until the end. This is the strength of this team. We just have to keep going and improving and hopefully the players will all be back and we can show our full power.”
Remaining strong as a unit
Many people came into the season wondering what Olympiacos may take a step back after losing the likes of Sasha Vezenkov and Kostas Sloukas during the offseason. But, a large majority of the core remains – and that showed as Olympiacos fought through the adversity as only a team with a strong understanding of itself can.
Besides Milutinov coming in, having previously represented the Reds from 2015 to 2020, another returnee in guard Nigel Williams-Goss scored 16 points, including some big shots down the stretch.
Alec Peters helped fill the Vezenkov void
Olympiacos ended up with five players in double figures, of which one was Alec Peters, who took on the role of Vezenkov, last season’s EuroLeague MVP. The 28-year-old finished with 17 points on 9 shots, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals without a single turnover for a PIR of 31. An impressive night to say the least.
“Coming into the season, I’ve felt pretty good,” Peters commented afterward. “Our team is so resilient, coming down at the end of the game and hitting some big shots and withstanding their runs and rebounding the ball.”
Peters said the team is aware of the quality that left the team. At the same time, the forward and his teammates are hungry to win the EuroLeague title after losing in the championship game to Real Madrid last season.
“Everybody on our team has that feeling that we need to step up,” he continued. “We didn’t finish the job last year. That feeling is still with some of us. This season, this pre-season, the guys who have been battling for a month feel that. We feel that on our shoulders and we all need to step up.”
But Peters was also aware that it’s only Round 1: “It’s just one win. It’s a long season, but it’s great to get that first win tonight.”
It’s just one game, but the Greek derby is not just any game – and especially a Panathinaikos side that looks a lot stronger than last year. With Milutinov, Williams-Goss and Peters, among others, playing as they did in Round 1, Olympiacos will remain one of the teams to beat in the 2023-24 EuroLeague season.