Olympiakos: In Madrid he took the first step towards returning to normality

In the first round final, after the double against Panathinaikos OPAP, Olympiakos showed their best side: 12 wins in 17 games and third place in the EuroLeague ranking.

Forty days later, the story is very different in terms of points as the Red-Whites have now dropped to sixth place while suffering four straight defeats to Fenerbahce, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Red Star and Real Madrid.

Looking at the big picture of 2022, one could say – perhaps with a touch of naivety – that George Bartzokas’ team is in freefall. Though not. The bracket that opened in Istanbul and Tel Aviv appears to be closing, a conclusion essentially drawn from the way the Olympiacos defense works (again). Simply because she’s used to what she did in the first round when she bragged about being the best in the EuroLeague.

The effects of the coronavirus showed up very quickly as the two consecutive away games at Fenerbahce Sports Hall and Menora Mivtavchim Arena collapsed. However, on the night of Wednesday 2 February, Olympiacos returned to the previous situation. After all, thanks to this fact he managed to win the WiZink Center.

Day and night

In any case, reading the results is too easy a way to talk about a team’s performance. However, the most important thing for Olympiacos is that the losing streak started because the situation at the back of the field had derailed.

How much; Very! The top-flight EuroLeague defense reached 0.88 points per possession as a burden in the first half of the season, where they received 1.18 points/possession from Fenerbahce and 1.14 points/possession from Maccabi Tel Aviv. Two teams whose indices were much lower until they played Olympiakos (0.96 and 0.95 respectively).

The picture was significantly better in the game with the Red Star (0.91 points/ball possession) to get to the game against Real Madrid, where the Red-Whites returned to the defensive data of the preliminary round. Despite a team with a good offensive rhythm and a penchant for possession, they managed to control the situation and take the ‘Queen’ down from 0.97 points/possession up until this game to 0.89 points/occupation.

The second problem

At the Fernando Buesa Arena, Olympiakos will be called on the night of Friday 4 February to confirm his return to defensive normality. At the same time, he (and) seems to have to solve the second of the problems that led to the collapse of the previous weeks: that of errors.

In the first round of the tournament, the red and white averaged 17.7 assists with 11.3 errors. In the following game trio with Fenerbahce, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Red Star, however, the omens were no longer positive (16 assists with 16 errors). What happened to the WiZink Center? Providing 15 assists and making 6 errors, Olympiakos controlled the pace as it greatly reduced the opportunities Real Madrid were looking for to lead the field and find points in transition.

He needs to do the same against Baskonia to stand a better chance of ending this hell of a week with a win and – together – finally writing the epilogue to the series of defeats that has crumbled his confidence into the new year.