The double negative record, the rust from abstention and the ‘lock’ by Dorsey

Olympiacos were unsuccessful against Fenerbahce in Istanbul. Obviously rusty from the 16 days of abstinence from playing, he couldn’t stand the energy of the Turks – without De Colo and Veseli – and suffered a 94:80 defeat.

The “Red-Whites” fought as much as they could, but in the end they didn’t have the energy or the clear mind to keep up with the rhythm of Fenerbahce. But how did they get there?

The points in the transition say a lot

The 94 points that Olympiacos have received are the most they have received in the EuroLeague this year. The same applies to the 1.18 points that he receives per occupation if, according to InStat Scout, he receives 0.9 points per occupation this season. The question, however, was how the majority of those 94 points came about, showing the major problem the red-whites faced with their abstinence from games.

According to InStat Scout, Olympiakos received 24 points in transitional situations (surprise), i.e. 1.71 per possession, while in such a situation it was called to defend a total of 14 times. To understand the magnitude of this number, it is enough: this season Olympiakos has received 6.8 surprises and a total of 7.4 points in each game (1.09 per possession), while this year it has never reached more than 18 ( from Monaco to SEF). . Fener shows 7.8 surprises this year and scores 9.3 points in such a situation. Sasa Djordjevic’s side usually scored 15 points more than usual in transition situations.

All of this, of course, has an explanation. Since Fener didn’t have De Colo and Veseli, he wanted to run so as not to be in 5v5 situations (where, when she was, she mainly posted the excellent Pierre). At the same time, the Turks wanted to use Olympiakos’ logical “rust” from their 16-day absence from games and even ran after a basket. That is, nothing happened by chance.

The free kicks and the help that came at the wrong time

According to InStat Scout, Olympiakos had their opponents show 12.2 attacks in catch-and-shoot situations before the match with Fener and received 11.9 points (0.98 per possession. In the match with Fener they saw 15/29 threesomes by the Turks ), but – mainly – showing 19 attacks in catch-and-shoot mode and getting 30 (!) points, i.e. 1.58 per possession. As recently as this year Olympiakos had not conceded more than 25 points in such a situation before this game (from CSKA to Moscow).

Why is that happend? Because Olympiakos was simply one step behind – or further – than it should have been. The “red-whites” lost many personal duels in defense. As a result, help often came. But they either came slower than they should – that’s how Fener’s player reached the basket – or earlier than they should have, resulting in an easy pass at the perimeter and a free kick.

Fener marks Olympiacos with defensive games. However, he also marked Mustafa Fal, either in the pick and roll, or in the periphery of Devin Booker, who “injured” the French with two free threesomes – and thus Olympiacos. The peripheral defenses of the “Red-Whites” suffered while Pierre kept the watch at Olympiacos when Papanikolaou sat on the bench and Booker opened the field.

It was the worst possible scenario for the defense of Giorgos Bartzokas’ team, who had obviously lost their tact on the defensive, clearly due to the abstention. The spins weren’t working properly and fast enough, Fener’s archers found themselves back on a great night and then disappointment added which made matters worse.

The “castle” of Dorsey

What was interesting at the end was that Fenerbahce had one goal from the start: Tyler Dorsey would not play a role for any reason. Since he knew that he was the most talented offensive player of the “Red-Whites”, but was lagging behind his teammates, the Turks made him think. That means not working with instinct and looking for the pass and not the shot.

Fener’s defense at Dorsey started off the ball, with the defender who tagged it playing “top-lock” that is, from the front so as not to let him take a screen, which can be seen in this photo:

When Dorsey came off the screen, the defender was playing “overplay,” which means he wouldn’t let him take the ball. When the expatriate guard took the ball, the defender caught on his hip.

The interesting thing, of course, was what happened right after that. When Dorsey started rushing towards the basket, all of the defense was focused on him. The closest players were ready to help on the strong side, even if it meant releasing their personal opponents, as in this photo Pieria Henry and Thomas Wookup.

In the presented phase, Dorsey finally found the pass to Wokap, who missed the threesome. In general, however, the foreign guard had a problem with defending himself against the Turks, as he generally had a problem with physical play. Somehow he had 14 points with 4/10 shots, but at the same time he had 7 mistakes for the 2 assists he shared because he couldn’t read the game properly.

A bad defeat, but in bad conditions

The fact is that Olympiakos missed a good chance of an important away win against a Fener without De Colo and Veseli. On the other hand, it is of course clear that the “injured” Fener with injuries had the ideal scenario in front of her: a team that had to play an official game for 16 days.

Olympiacos are now called on to claim this victory in another game to finally consolidate their position in the playoffs. He’s going to have to find a rhythm again to create the right conditions for Dorsey to “get out” when he has a whole defense against him to chase him down to get Mustafa Fal back into the equation (he has the whole Night not posted at all) to find solutions from other players.

The EuroLeague is a marathon. And this marathon goes into the second half. What follows from now on will be very interesting. For all teams.