Victory in Baskonia sees Olympiakos forget Wokap’s misplaced three-pointer

The good news: Olympiacos found the fighting self he was missing in Madrid (or the coronavirus and other issues that all came together), did an amazing first half, made it very difficult for Real to change the flow of the game going in played on the verge of foul play at almost every stage of the second half. The team, who lost by a hair’s breadth to Fener, couldn’t put up much of a match against Maccabi and were beaten at home by Red Star, went into the game with the tournament’s best team on fire.

Progress is a given, along with a ray of optimism, although Conter recorded their fourth straight defeat, Olympiakos are yet to win the EuroLeague in 2022, the record has fallen to 12-9 and the spreads are now starting to narrow dangerously. Where they have the advantage, the “Red-Whites” find themselves surrounded by the other contenders to qualify for the playoffs, with the continuation of back-to-back finals.

And this is the bad news of a good show, but it didn’t… finish. And in the EuroLeague, as is well known, there are no good defeats. The Count is relentless and doesn’t see if you played well, but in the end you lost…

On the other hand, the appearance in Madrid for a long time had many characteristics of Olympiakos in the first half of the year, something that Bartzokas and players must maintain in order to continue even better, that is, to start the game coming to Vitoria. The win against Basconia tomorrow (February 4th) in the Fernando Buesa Arena is out of the question anyway. However, the game turned out to be crucial as another game stop follows next week with Efes at the Peace and Friendship Stadium.

First on the ball

Whether Olympiakos has really made a step forward and slowly overcome the decline of the last few games, we will find out by watching him against Baskonia, a side with much less capacity than Real.

In the first period we again saw the Piraeus getting the ball first, being focused on their defensive plan and, with the exception of the hosts’ resounding superiority in rebounds, playing the game the way they wanted from the start. At a pace they controlled, with lots of contacts, melee combat, sacrificial jumps and basketball that could end up being a great doubles.

Olympiacos had time to do all this. Bringing energy and passion to the ground, stealing balls and forcing a team like Real to change troparion until they play with a center and… four shorts. Obviously not everything went perfectly considering that the Madrilenians came back into the game with a difference of 14 points.

Although Bartzokas, as he said at half-time, was waiting for Real’s dynamic response, at some point in the replay Olympiakos appeared to lose control or drown in stress. Think of the two missed nails (!) by McKissick and Fal at a time when the home team’s basket seemed to be surrendered to the whims of the two Olympiacos players. In a match scored by a shot, two missed nails is tantamount to suicide…

Why did Woookup shoot?

However, Olympiacos was at the critical juncture of the game. That said, when Real overtook him on points (thanks to Tomas Ertel’s sickle, the darkest point in the generally good defensive presence of the entire Piraeus side), many believed he was going to collapse. Sasha Vezenkov’s five straight points (leading the game as he faced the sweeping Yabuzele, among others) got him back on bay.

It was a shot. And Olympiacos’ critical attack, after excellent defense and a misplaced third corner by Hertel, came on with 1:19 to go. As expected, Sloukas Fal took the ball out of his hand and found the uncovered Wokap in the corner as the phase progressed.

What do we see? Sloukas, almost surrounded by Real’s defence, essentially has a choice between a correct pass to Wokap. Passing the ball to the unmarked Vezenkov seems impossible as he would have to rotate his body in the air. A pass to Dorsey is also in jeopardy as Yul and Rudy are lured into stealing. Fal also steps back half a step to get the ball back, Tavares is close to the basket, as is Yabouzele, who is already urging his compatriot down the middle.

Wookup theoretically shoots correctly since it’s a free three-pointer. Yes, only the American has a post … 18.2%, yes, he is a better shot than he looks, but for better or for worse he only finds beams so far.

If you look at the bottom of the screenshot, you can see that there are 8 inches left for the end of Olympiacos’ attack. A pass to Dorsey (and another to Vezenkov) makes more sense than a shot from the blonde playmaker, who predictably missed the target. Such a decision has to be made in a split second and Wokap put instinct ahead of a flash of inspiration for an attack that Olympiacos has executed perfectly at other times.

Of course, not only Olympiakos is on the pitch. Real’s defense who closed their defense firstly to not receive a shot from Sloukas and secondly to prevent him from going in any other way than Wokap. Yul leaves the guard with the worst percentage untagged, knowing he’s not in immediate danger from this angle.

Note, however, that Olympiacos is playing with three guards at this stage, without a classic trio, due to the absence of both Papanikolaou and McKissick, who could potentially parry that attack on another occasion. Or Larentzakis, who stayed in Athens, stricken by the coronavirus.

Wookup failed, Rudy (in the next phase) showed why he remains valuable for Lasso and Real at 37 and it was all over.

All of this, however, will hardly matter when Olympiacos finally return from Spain with a win under their belt. The win against Bascona looks like one of the biggest goals of the year, even if there aren’t more than two points…