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Basketball » Euroleague (M), 12. round
OddsStats
26.03.2015. 20:45 Finished
Olympiacos - Efes Pilsen (86:75)

Lots of issues regarding Spanoulis, Efes in a dangerous crisis

  • Published:
Updates:

The Turkish team have lost three of their last four games, some in their national league against bottom ranked teams, with a noticeable performance decline

www.anadoluefessporkulubu.org

Last week's defeat in Vitoria distanced Olympiacos from the top two positions in this group, as Fener and CSKA now have one more win, and the Turks also have a better head-to-head score. The only good news for the Greeks is that they hold their fate in their hands, as three victories would get them at least to second place, but that means they have to win in Moscow next week.

The team from Piraeus seem to be plagued by injury problems lately. The biggest issue is the injury of point guard Spanoulis, who most likely won't be playing this game. The club management do not want to risk making his injury worse, and it's quite likely that Oly will have to attempt beating Efes without him, though there is still a possibility that he'll play. Apart from Spanoulis, Oly will once again be deprived of Petway and Tsiarelis, while Sloukas' appearance is also in question and will be decided right before the game. This will be a new test of character for the team, although the rest of the players responded well in their last few games.

-I will not gamble on players' health, we will not be using anyone unfit to play. Spanoulis and Sloukas joined some parts of practice, but I don't think they can play. We'll see- said Sferopoulos and left open the possibility that he'll use Spanoulis.

Without those players, Oly should most likely rely on defense even more, especially having in mind the way the opposing team play. Olympiacos had an unexpectedly hard time beating Dramas in the championship on Monday. Although they controlled the match, they ended up scoring just 72 points against a team who are far from brilliant on defense, in a performance far worse than the one displayed in the away match a few weeks ago.

- We played very good defense throughout the match, forcing them to commit 23 turnovers. Through defense we found rhythm on offense, scored some easy points and built our lead- said Sferopoulos after the match.

That pretty much sums up the tactics for this match. It's clear that Olympiacos lose a lot in offense organization without Spanoulis, which might be a problem against the very good defense of Efes, so we can expect them to play extra tight defense in front of their home crowd and look to defense to give them confidence on offense. The defeat they suffered at Istanbul a few weeks ago will serve to motivate them even further, and we can expect a battle for ever point.

- We've got a lot of problems with absences and injuries. Our coach insists on good defense against Efes, that will be very important. We have to stop their transition game- said Lafayette clearly.

He's been ill these past few days, but attended practice yesterday and should be available for this game. In case Spanoulis cannot play, Lafayette will once again take the extra burden.

- We're playing a very important match against a team that beat us in the first round. This is a very important match, we want to get back on the winning path after two defeats in a row. We need intensity and drive in this game- said Sferopoulos, adding also:

- They may not be at their optimum right now, but they'll go full throttle and try to disturb our rhythm through defense. Compared to earlier in the season, Huertel carries their game more. We have to parry them under the rim, prevent them from getting points, while on the other side attempting to assault their defensive weaknesses.

Rebounding will be important, as the absence of Petway certainly showed in their last few games. Oly lost the rebounding battle 33-26 at Vitoria, but their inferiority to Dramas at home a few days ago (24-32) was even more worrying. Efes are very strong in that segment and this will be a big challenge for Oly.

- We have to control the tempo and rebounds. Those are the key two segments for me- said Agravanis.

Efes are in a major crisis, both their performance and results have suffered, and trying to get ahead at Piraeus is the worst possible option. Coach Ivković is well aware of that, having brought the Piraeus team to a European title not so long ago. He is now leading a team with great ambition, but under a lot of doubt. Defeats again Laboral Kutxa and Unicaja and two bottom ranked teams in Turkey, TED and Usak, along with injuries of Krstić and Furkan Korkmaz, brought about a mobilization, but even more importantly, jeopardized the Euroleague quarterfinal for them. They're entering the last three rounds with the same score as Kutxa (8-3), and only ahead of the Spaniards due to a better h2h score. They have yet to play against Oly, Milan and Fenerbakce, games which will truly show what they're made of.

On Sunday they lost to Usak despite holding a +12 lead at the start of the last period.

- The players need to realize its a 40 minute game. We lost many possessions in the last period, played poorly, and lost- raged Dušan Ivković, who is increasingly criticized by the Turkish media for bringing in Heurtel, as the Frenchman was always a soft player, while Ivković benched Draper in the national team for Heurtel.

Usak's point guard Chris Warren made 17 of his 22 points in the last quarter, including the shot for the win. Naturally, a lot of that is Heurtel's fault. Efes' defense suffered a terrible decline over the past weeks, and if they don't find some balance there the season could easily slip away from them.

- This is an important match for both Efes and Olympiacos. We definitely expect them to bring Spanoulis, and after they lost to Kutxa, things will be even more difficult- said Ivković, whose team scored 47 points in the second half of the first match against the Turks, taking advantage of the terrible day Spanoulis had (0/6), though one must note the strange behaviour of the Greek coach, who mostly benched Spanoulis while Krstić was in game, when it's common knowledge that Krstić cannot play quality defense against pick-n-roll, something Spanoulis is probably best in Europe at.

- The most important aspect of the match is their defense of the pick game with Spanoulis. Controlling the match is very important to us- said Ivković prior to this match.

Krstić warmed up for the Usak game, but sat out the whole match. He should be playing today, as well as Korkmaz, making Efes complete.

Updates

  • 27.03.2015. 07:15h
  • reads: 69
  • likes: 0
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Olympiacos Efes Pilsen
Absent players

  • Petway, Tsairelis, Spanoulis (?), Sloukas (?)

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