Led by Sasha Vezenkov, the Reds came together to defeat a perennial title contender in Real Madrid
Olympiacos continues its process of turning a talented group into a team
Article
3 Mins read
Should Olympiacos Piraeus have lost at home against Real Madrid, it would have been coach Georgios Bartzokas’s slowest start to a campaign in his eight seasons across two spells in charge of the Greek side. On Tuesday night, his players ensured that would not be the case.
The arrivals of several talented players over the summer allowed Olympiacos to put together a star-studded roster that may have raised expectations in Piraeus. Yet, it’s teams – and not individuals – who achieve wins and titles.
Olympiacos came into the Rivalry Series duel against Real Madrid following two straight road losses at Anadolu Efes Istanbul and FC Bayern Munich that saw the Reds drop to a 2-3 record.
“As we said after the two losses at Efes and Bayern, we are good players, we just need to become a good team,” Sasha Vezenkov, who netted a game-high 23 points against Real Madrid, told EuroLeague TV. “Everybody has to sacrifice. Everybody has to put his body in the battle, and I think that this is what we did today.”
The process of turning a group of individuals into a team might be long and burdensome. Mistakes will be made and games will be lost on the way. After all, Olympiacos squandered double-digit leads at both Efes and Bayern before suffering a home loss in the domestic-league derby against Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens last Sunday night.
But as Shaq McKissic noted after the 79-69 victory over Real Madrid, communication and making sure that everyone is on the same page could produce magic on the court.
“We had a long meeting after the derby game just about believing in each other and just about having fun,” McKissic, who paired his 15 points with 9 rebounds, said to EuroLeague TV. “We were encouraging each other, there were no down faces and you can contribute that to the win.”
Indeed, Olympiacos looked focused on the court, especially when it came to protecting the boards. Coming into Tuesday’s clash, the Reds ranked 16th in total rebounds with just 31.0 per game. Meanwhile, Real Madrid recorded 26.0 defensive rebounds – the fourth-most in the EuroLeague. Yet, this time it was Olympiacos who dominated inside and outrebounded Los Blancos 43-31, allowing Real Madrid just 4 offensive rebounds compared to the 15 recorded by the hosts.
“We lost at the end, in the fourth quarter, probably because we lost the battle of the defensive rebounds,” Real Madrid head coach Chus Mateo said in the post-game press conference. “They got many more shots. On two-pointers, they took 41 shots and we only took 24.”
In the fourth quarters of the losses at Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, Efes and Bayern, Olympiacos was outscored 25-15, 26-19 and 25-19, respectively. After 30 minutes, the Reds trailed by one point at Fenerbahce and led by five and two, respectively, against Efes and Bayern. When the game heads into the closing quarter, chemistry will undoubtedly play a key role down the road.
To achieve cohesion, Olympiacos will need to turn its talented group of individuals into a team. And as Vezenkov pointed out after the clash against Real Madrid, this win is a solid step in the right direction.
Sed id volutpat purus, non fringilla turpis. Proin et dolor tortor. Maecenas ut aliquet arcu. Integer eu volutpat nisi, in luctus augue. Phasellus vel elit cursus, dignissim tortor in, pretium ante. Morbi varius at urna ultricies egestas. Suspendisse dui ligula, interdum non lectus eu, semper gravida nibh. Pellentesque bibendum lacus enim. Nulla aliquet, tortor at consectetur porttitor, est nisi hendrerit dolor, vitae ullamcorper diam arcu a arcu. Suspendisse eu vulputate sapien. Praesent ut elit nec nulla imperdiet placerat vel eu neque. Praesent porttitor felis non ante rutrum, sed tincidunt augue pulvinar. Morbi id urna in nunc dignissim luctus.
