Euro League
Groundhog Day for Olympiakos, which also has an advantage
Will Olympiacos live the day of the groundhog that seemed to live again last year? Giannis Fileris explains the dangers of falling and why he can finally be optimistic he’ll make it…
Last year, at such a time, Olympiacos started losing oil again. The coronavirus, two or three injuries (mainly Papanikolaou) made him more fragile than he was, which led to his collapse and his elimination from the “8” of the playoffs. Will the Bartzokas team also implement the same project this year? We asked the “red and white” coach if and after from the belt against the Red Star (third loss in a row in the Euroleague) feels like last year’s revival.
“To the fact that we played in an empty stadium, maybe yes,” replied the 57-year-old coach, who saw the unbeaten Olympiakos fall at SEF while the stands were less than 1,000 of his team’s friends. That warm atmosphere of the previous games where people got into the equation and the opponent left beaten.
Would Asteras lose with 6-7k on the field? In perhaps the most critical phase of the game, after his own miss (cut by Fal), wouldn’t Kalinic save the ball for White to score an incredible basket? At 2:23 to go, Olympiakos had the opportunity – if they took the ball – to go out onto the open field and go forward with a basket and complete the counterattack of the last third. However, instead of 69-68, it became 67-70 with the time of the Serbian attack, almost when it expires. The visitors witnessed a fourth and crucial Olympiacos comeback.
We don’t know if people caused more trouble for the ‘Red-Whites’ opponents, but it would have been different if all three absent due to Covid (Papanikolaou-Printezis) and injury (McKissick) had played.
But you can’t stand on the excuses. Yes we will agree with Bartzokas, in terms of fans the situation is different as the doors are open throughout the rest of Europe but the coronavirus has been no exception and has hit everyone. Obviously, infecting two or three players is one thing and another… eleven, as happened at Olympiakos, but with Covid it was known in advance that there will be problems (for everyone) this year as well.
We remind you that Piraeus has chosen a “light” squad of 13 players, while even the foreigner they added mid-season (Quincy Aisi) has made progress but comes from an absence of a year and no more can play than five to ten minutes.
The danger of bringing him down…
So what’s the risk of Olympiacos suffering the same as last year? Suddenly he seems fragile and has to cope with a series of defeats. You know winning is easy to deal with. Everything is fine, nobody has a complaint, even if it is covered by general euphoria. However, defeat requires first calm and then unity.
The balance is always delicate, it requires diplomacy, but also shedding the (micro) egos whose influence swells to a lopsided result.
Olympiacos has yet to claim a European victory at the start of 2022, with three consecutive defeats (never before this year has there been such a streak), which could be even more if we consider that a double test against Real Madrid is on Spanish soil follows Madrid and Basconia. He doesn’t want the record to crumple, confidence to plummet and stress to become… a virus like Covid.
… and why he’s optimistic that not everything will happen in the past year
On the other hand, if we study well what has happened so far, how Olympiacos plays, but also an important parameter, Piraeus can be optimistic that they will not suffer last year. It is their participation in national competitions that gives them the opportunity to be “forgotten” by the dynamics of the Euroleague and more easily regain their self-confidence and, to some extent, their strengths.
The solutions come through the games and that’s what Olympiacos needs to focus on. Don’t forget he has to win the first title of the year (Cup) next month which if he wins it will give him a big boost for the toughest (and most consistent) European games coming in March. Olympiacos have won a national title since 2016 and a success in Heraklion makes life easier for them.
Until then, of course, he must remember the beginning of the year, rediscover the fun and above all the energy that he lacks (logically due to the Covid cases) and return to important European victories. He will also need the support of his people, who will slowly return to SEF, but also away trips, which are… very few this year.
Qualification remains a goal
Bartzokas pointed out that qualifying for the playoffs remains Olympiacos’ main goal in the Euroleague. He’s right to point this out because sometimes in our exaggeration we forget the true dynamic of the event, how much the Greek teams have withdrawn and we’re talking about the last four and other glorious moments.
The truth is that qualifying for the Eight is no easy feat. Compared to last year there is of course a clear difference, which we recently analyzed and which leads to a place in the playoffs with 18 (of 20) wins at the limit.
This does not mean that everything will be easy. If they were, teams like Fener and Efes, who are even lower down, would not have lost so much ground so easily to CSKA Moscow, who are now equal to Piraeus. The year is big for everyone. The marathon continues and in the end Bartzokas and players hope that they will not end up experiencing Groundhog Day like Bill Murray in the famous film where he slept and woke up experiencing exactly the same things every day…
Source: sport24
Jessica Martinez is an author at Sportish, a publication dedicated to sports news and analysis. She covers various topics related to sports and provides insightful commentary on the latest developments in the world of sports.
Mustafa Fal has delivered a monstrous performance in international matches and Vassilis Skoundis is tackling the problem, inevitably involving the first teacher of the art, Panagiotis Fassoulas.
“The gypsy saw his generation and his heart rejoiced,” says a proverb whose meaning fits the occasion… I mean, the occasion of Fal seeing the other Fal opposite him and enjoying him normally and in accordance with the law!
Let the necessary recommendations be made…
One of them is Mustafa Fal, who was born in Paris on February 23, 1992, he is French, he plays in his country’s national team, his hat comes from Senegal, he has been looking since he was 2.18. He is in his third season at Olympiacos…
Yusufa and Taco
The other person who competed against him yesterday is Youssoufa Fal, who was born in Dakar on January 12, 1995, is a Senegalese with French nationality, has a height of 2.21 m and is competing in Villerban for the third consecutive time…
There is of course the much wilder Taco Fal, who was also born in Dakar on December 10, 1995, spent three seasons in the NBA, is now sizzling in China and has had his head tickling the feet of God since he was 229 cm tall!
Mustafa, Yusufa and Tako have no relationship or kinship between them: they are synonymous, apart from the coincidence that ensures that they are all three kilometers long!
The triple-double figure in Pylaia
He had attacked the Olympiacos central defender again on the 11th of last month, on the occasion of the triple-double he scored in the game against PAOK in Pylaia, rare in our area, but he wanted to make us laugh for a while as his only goal!
At first he missed Yannis Fileris who treated him properly, but I also have some stitches for his fur!
To say my sin, I laughed and liked Fileris’ pun on… Wrong!
Fasoulas and… Lumidis
In any case, “Pani” was like…Lumidis in the field of coffee roasting, plus he made heads turn with soft nails with his unique and unparalleled skills.
To paraphrase Lumidis’ advertising slogan: in our case it was “Everyone in their own way and Fasoulas in their caps“!
Since the conversation broke out, the experienced PAOK and Olympiacos international center has recorded five triple-doubles with points, rebounds and blocks, which are of course rarer than those that include assists.
He scored the first of these goals on October 15, 1988 (PAOK-Panionios) with 18 points, 18 rebounds and 13 blocks.
Two weeks later he “wrote” the second with 20-18-11 against Apollon Patras, on November 19 he followed the third against Sporting (29-19-15), while in the 1990/91 season he added two more: 18 – 14-10 with Peristeri and 19-12-11 with Iraklis.
Vrankovic’s record and the “wow” with Green
Similar triple feats with plugs have also been achieved by Stojan Vrankovic (who is already the record holder in EuroLeague history with 10 in a Fortitudo Bologna-Cibona Zagreb game) with Panathinaikos, Anthony Cook with PAOK, Mike Smrek with Dafni, PJ Brown with Panionios, Efthymis Renzias with the National Youth Team and Antonis Fotsis with the Greens youth team.
On Friday night in Lyon, Fall broke the bank when he nearly followed in Draymond Green’s footsteps and posted a rare triple-double without scoring in double figures.
He reached the final horn with two points, seven rebounds, seven assists and eight blocks, while the Warriors’ cocky forward did so on February 10, 2017 against the Grizzlies with 11 rebounds, 10 assists, 10 steals and just two points.
From 0.8 to 8
Fal had grabbed 14 rebounds in the game against Red Star while he dished out seven assists in the game against Baskonia, so there is no news here…
The wave was caused by the eight caps, because on the one hand there are a lot of them and on the other hand the so-called do not have a big problem with davtes.
Before the game with Villerban, he had taken 12 shots in 14 games, and suddenly he flashed and thundered from a 0.8 average to eight!
What is the key quality a good blocker should have?
The cap for Moretti, the timing and the caps
Instead of answering, I’ll give the floor to a specialist and expert, none other than Panagiotis Fasoulas, who, among other things, scored the most decisive international match in the history of Olympiacos!
I am referring to the match against Paolo Moretti in the third game of the European Champions Cup playoff series in the 10993/94 season, thanks to which Piraeus qualified for the Final 4 in Tel Aviv.
“Everything is a question of timing“he explained to me when I asked him how he cultivated and developed his art.
“You need to know and understand where, when and how to jump to block the opponent’s shot. In addition to this sense of space and time, speed of movement and long arms also play a role. I did the caps and even covered the ball so we could go straight to attack” explains Fasoulas, who is already drawing the moral lesson of the story…
“Attack requires talent, but defense depends on will.”
The spider web
Last but not least, this desire flowed from the… gums of Fasoula, who went out and trapped his opponents in the spider’s web from which no one could escape.
From his appearance in the early 80s until his retirement in 1999, he reduced defense not only to a science, but to a spectacular spectacle!
Source: sport 24
I am a writer at Sportish, where I mainly cover sports news. I’ve also written for The Guardian and ESPN Brasil, and my work has been featured on NBC Sports, SI.com and more. Before working in journalism, I was an athlete: I played football for Colgate University and competed in the US Open Cross Country Championships.
Matias Lessor received hundreds of interesting messages from friends of Panathinaikos AKTOR about his injury and quickly explained what the situation is.
Matias Lessor’s injury was the only black mark in the game against Armani Milano. For this very reason, the people of Panathinaikos AKTOR didn’t enjoy it as much as they would have liked. At least until they received the results of the sports high school exams.
The day after the game, it became clear that the problem was not serious. However, Matias Lessor explained in detail how he feels after his injury and thanked everyone for their interest.
Matias Lesor’s message in detail:
“Thank you everyone for your lovely messages and your interest. I’m feeling much better. It just hurts, but I’m fine“.
Source: sport 24
I am a writer at Sportish, where I mainly cover sports news. I’ve also written for The Guardian and ESPN Brasil, and my work has been featured on NBC Sports, SI.com and more. Before working in journalism, I was an athlete: I played football for Colgate University and competed in the US Open Cross Country Championships.
End of alert for Matias Lesor at Panathinaikos AKTOR. The French center has a bad back due to the injury and will miss tomorrow’s (December 24th) game against Prometheus in Patras (20:15, ERT3 and LIVE on Sportish), but his tests were clear.
Matias Lesor will play in tomorrow’s (December 24th) away game of Panathinaikos AKTOR against Prometheus (8:15 p.m., 3 a.m. and LIVE from Sportish) on matchday 11 of the Stoiximan Basket League due to the lower back injury he sustained in this game , do not compete Armani Milano. But he escaped the worst.
The French center was tested immediately after the return of the “Greens” from Milan, who were “clean”. In other words, they didn’t show that the bone was broken in the middle – which everyone feared when they saw the Frenchman slaughtered on the ground. But Lesor is still in pain, ruling him out of the game against Prometheus and considered doubtful for next week’s EuroLeague game against Red Star.
With Lesor out, Oleg Balcherovski, Kostas Antetokounmpo and Dinos Mitoglou will fill the center position in the game against Prometheus.
Source: sport 24
I am a writer at Sportish, where I mainly cover sports news. I’ve also written for The Guardian and ESPN Brasil, and my work has been featured on NBC Sports, SI.com and more. Before working in journalism, I was an athlete: I played football for Colgate University and competed in the US Open Cross Country Championships.
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