Barcelona – Olympiacos 70-80: Legendary double with record, Piraeus team for big

All beginning and difficult, they say. And when the start finds you at the headquarters of one of Europe’s leading teams, things look even worse. The premiere of EuroLeague 2022/23 Olympiacos took place in Palau Blaugrana, but this Olympiacos is not afraid of places and opponents after last year’s course and proved it with the triumph (80-70) that is like a message to all of Europe.

With Sascha Vezenkov as a point of reference in attack, with Kostas Sluka superbly creative and with so many assists, from Isaiah Cannon in the second half to Joel Boloboi – Tarik Black, with the amazing Alec Peters coexisting in a two-PF formation, but also with killer Giannoulis Larentzakis bombing from the perimeter in the fourth third, Giorgos Bartzokas can be both delighted and proud of his creation. From this squad that shows great balance early on, from this team that also shoots on goal (25/25, club record in the competition) and will improve their three-point percentage as the weeks go by.

The MVP

It’s really very difficult to single out one Olympiakos player tonight. Sloukas was…masterful at organization and creation, Vezenkov scored, Boloboi gave much more than even the optimists expected, Peters and Larentzakis hit great shots in the first and second halves and now as we write this, yes, Larry, he was in the lead because he cleaned up the game in the fourth period with his four threes.

The weak link

Bad night for several Barcelona players as Jan Vesely stepped into the role of Nikola Mirotic but saved five points in 15 minutes (2/4 2 points, 1/2 shots).

The stats that stood out

Olympiacos finished the first third without an assist (!) for their four penalties, but in the second they threw out six, while at half-time they had five more shots than the home team and 100% (7/7). At the end of the evening, the home side had just 43.2% on the twos and a negative assists/misses ratio (11/12), while the Reds and Whites had 25/25 shots, a performance which is of course a club record in the league Competition. Points from opponents’ mistakes (18-13) and from second chances (13-5) also played an important role in the big double at the Palau Blaugrana.

The race

Barzokas opened the match with the well-known five (Wokap, Kanan, Papanikolaou, Vezenkov, Fal), who secured Veseli (!) his most important point guard. 4:6 in the fourth minute was the result of long-range shots by Walkup and Vezenkov, with Satoransky making the difference in defense with his ball save. Kanan’s two quick fouls got Sluka on the ground early, with Boloboi providing energy and a field goal to make it 16-13 at 8 minutes, the result of the first period. A period when the Piraeus had 3/7 two-pointers, 2/8 three-pointers and no assists!

While Boloboi continued to do a good job, early in the second quarter Bartzokas saw Sluka level the game to 18-18 at 13′, also bringing Black into play. The American made a shot and a foul at 22:21, Peters followed with a three at 22:24, another at 25:30, and his co-existence with Vezenkov made Olympic fun and extremely dangerous. The 12-21 in the second period was the result of fast circulation and good execution, with Olympiacos big players firing the shots and the derby magically progressing.

Barcelona felt even more pressure with Laprovitola – Abrines burdened with three fouls early in the second half. However, the Argentine made two long shots to make it 34-36, while the Spaniard followed with his own three to make it 37-38 after 23 minutes. What was the reaction of Olympiacos? A long two-pointer from Kanan and a four-pointer from Vezenkov made it 39:44 in the middle of the third before the home side responded with a 6-0 run of their own and the game turned into a… rodeo. Canaan’s rise was the biggest news as the American hit a 3-pointer and an assist for Boloboi to make it 47-51 before the lead rose to 10 (47-57) late in the quarter.

A crazy three-pointer from Abrines from 11 meters (52-60) looked like a bad omen for Olympiacos, Barca’s streak went 8-0 but then Peters, Lorentzaki’s three-pointer shot to 57-65 in 34′ and he had another shot from the Corner for 59-68. “Larry” was the man for the big ones, excited but cool at the same time to pull off a fourth three-pointer that decided the match at the last minute. What a night…

THE REFEREES: Radovic, Yavor, Difala

THE DECADES: 16-13, 28-34, 49-57, 70-80

BARCELONA (Jasikevicius): Da Silva, Sanli 9 (1/6 2-pointers, 1/3 3-pointers, 4/4 shots, 5 rebounds), Vesely 5 (2/4 2-pointers, 1/2 shots, 6 rebounds). ). ), Kalinic 11 (2/5 2-pointers, 2/4 3-pointers, 1/1 shot), Satoransky 7 (1 3-pointers, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, 4 turnovers), Laprovitola 16 (3 /4 2-pointers, 3/7 3-pointers, 1/1 shot), Abrines 8 (2/5 3-pointers), Higgins 10 (4/6 2-pointers, 2/3 shots), Toby, Yokubaitis 4

OLYMPIC (Barzokas): Walkup 5 (0/4 2-pointers, 1/3 3-pointers, 2/2 shots, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals), Kanan 9 (1/1 2-pointers, 1/2 3 -Pointer, 4/4 shots), Larentzakis 12 (4/7 trebles), Fall, Slukas 7 (2/4 doubles, 0/5 trebles, 3/3 shots, 9 assists, no fouls) , Vezenkov 20 (4/ 9 two-pointers, 3/4 three-pointers, 3/3 shots, 7 rebounds), Papanikolaou 2, Boloboi 12 (3/5 2-pointers, 6/6 shots, 7 rebounds), Peters 10 (2/3 2 -Pointer, 4/4 shots), Black 3, McKissick

Barcelona team stats: 16/38 2-pointers, 9/23 3-pointers, 11/13 shots, 33 rebounds (26 defensive – 7 offensive), 11 assists, 5 steals, 12 fouls

Olympiacos team statistics: 26.11. 2-hand, 28.11. 3-pointers, 25/25 shots, 41 rebounds (32 defensive – 9 offensive), 18 assists, 7 steals, 14 fouls

The next games of the two teams: On Matchday 2, Barcelona host Real Madrid (13/10, 9:30 p.m.), Olympiakos host Zalgiris Kaunas (14/10, 9:00 p.m.).