Olympiacos’ two victories bring peace and perhaps Petrusev too

The two victories that Olympiacos achieved in the week of the devil put him back on a positive note and gave him peace of mind to think about his immediate and distant future. Even the infamous boost with one or more players. Under the conditions known by Giorgos Bozikas in Belgrade and confirmed by coach Bartzokas at SEF, the “Red and Whites” are on the market and there may be good news soon. After all, it is said that contacts with Filip Petrusev’s team have progressed too far and the Serbian power forward may be in Piraeus in the coming days.

The 2.11 m tall Petrusev with stations at Efes and Er. Asteras tried unsuccessfully to play in the NBA this year. He likely realized his future lies in Europe and not as a non-existent presence on the Sacramento Kings roster, who don’t even seem to have any intention of keeping him.

The Serbian international (silver medal with his country’s national team, this year in the Philippines) plays in two positions (both “4” and “5”) and probably covers what they in principle consider standard for acquisition or addition of players in the current squad, the people of Olympiacos.

With Efes he became European champion in 2022, did not play much under Ataman’s instructions, but last year he had a great season in the Asteras jersey (10.7p, 5.2p). With EuroLeague experience behind him, he is a strong body that Olympiacos needs (even if Milutinov returns healthy). A move with a long-term perspective, considering his age (24 years) and the fact that he will not sign a contract after Piraeus, but only until the end of this season.

Incredible duo Fal and Peters

If all this is confirmed and Olympiacos have a big extra, we will know straight away. However, transferology is a bit unfair to those players who remained active on the pitch and gave their best, as was the case yesterday against Asteras. Overall, the team’s performance was great, shooting 56% on 2-pointers, 43% on 3-pointers, 26 assists and 11 turnovers. Especially after the second quarter, when the hosts found a way to contain the pick-and-rolls and three-point shots with the changes in defense.

In the third period, Olympiacos became even tougher in defense, only conceding 9 points and even reaching the difference of +15 with big three-point throws. In fact, he could keep the game at this level if, in the end, he was in a hurry to “complete the victory” not only with hasty decisions, but also with the stubborn reaction of Asteras.

However, it was very hard to miss the important victory that brought Olympiacos back into the top eight in a Euroleague where every game – except Real – smells of surprise. The Fal Peters duo caused a sensation. Overall (with points and assists), they were responsible for 54 of their team’s 88 points and collected 18 of 39 rebounds. Both set records, Peters in points, Fall in rebounds, and in the end they were adored by the team crowd.

The Frenchman picked up where he left off in Belgrade with Maccabi. He was even better. A bugbear in defense, even if he had to go outside to cover the 1.75 meter tall Yago dos Santos. A 218 cm tall giant is chasing Astera’s little Brazilian. As long as he had strength, Fal seemed invincible, exploiting every effort of the Serbian defense and being unopposed.

But even when he got tired, he pushed through. Nobody went to him, he continued to grab rebounds and finished the game with 14 points (7/10 shots), as many rebounds (semi-offensive), 3 assists and 3 blocks. At the end, the camera caught him trying to catch his breath. Some of those were given to him yesterday by Luke Sikma who, had he been a little more alert to fouls, might have stayed on the pitch longer, with Fal ending up playing just under 34 minutes. In the last three games, he played an average of 35 minutes and recorded 34 points, 27 rebounds, 14 assists and 7 blocks. And yes, he will swallow swords in the end!

At the same time, Peters experienced an orgiastic offensive evening with the well-known poker face and demonstrated his enormous shooting talent. The American is a true shooter (he shoots 50% from three) and has doubled his scoring average in a career season (15.1 points, compared to 7.2 points total in his EuroLeague career).

“Alekos,” as Laretzakis calls him at the team’s regular meeting in the locker room before he goes out to warm up, has been dressed as Vezenkov since the beginning of the year and is constantly scoring…

The knot leader Papanikolaou

We could also write about how Kanan’s streak is even more accurate than Peters’, as he is shooting 52.1% from three and has a streak of six games with double-digit points. The 32-year-old guard is more consistent than ever in the EuroLeague and is preparing for an even more exciting sequel.

Also note Tomas Walkup’s second good game and assists from the bench in the first half, as well as an overall positive performance against a good team like Asteras, which also has significant injury losses (Napier, Hanga, Lazic, Simonovic).

But we have to focus on Kostas Papanikolaou’s decisive performance. The captain played – as Bartzokas revealed – with an injection to overcome the discomfort in his back, he quickly committed two fouls in the first third, but in the second half he had a big game, scoring 11 points, reading all his phases and Defensive weaknesses star and even reassure his coach.

When Bartzokas saw the +15 reduced by ten points due to Olympiakos’ haste but also Astera’s stubborn reaction, he was ready to explode. The captain intervened and said, “According to this coach, let’s win the game now.” The coach shook his hand and the team eventually won. The communication between coaches and players, the general atmosphere that exists in each club, can be seen in moments like these that are captured by the television cameras on the teams’ benches.

Olympiacos is now waiting for the return of the injured, because from Monday McKissick, Milutinov, the impending (?) arrival of Petrusev and Zalgiris Kaunas, the next opponent of the “Red-Whites” in the SEF, will begin training from Monday.