Olympiacos brought his marines from the port and assumed the summit

Olympiacos also played indoor basketball in the Euroleague this year, having the best attack and the most assists, but not forgetting, however, the traditions of … port. In absolute numbers, he concedes the fewest points after Armani Milano, although the impressive +172 he has as a barrier between attack and defense shows how balanced his game is on both parts of the field.

As good as he is at execution and creation, he also drains the oil of his opponents, who commit, on average, 14 fouls, struggle to score, and lose the ball under pressure and panic generated by the terrible defense of – when necessary – the ‘red whites’. It is no coincidence that, after all, they are the first to steal the ball, which is a sign of the pressure they put on the ball.

Olympiacos knows very well that in order to reach a higher level in the Euroleague where nothing is certain and given, it has to look like an impenetrable wall defensively. Solid. He also appeared against Real, who were without a goalkeeper (William Goss and Sergio Rodriguez missing, but also Ambaldi) who knew he had to play … stick. Just, eat more Finally watch Olympiacos She dropped her offense below average by 24 points through yesterday (she barely scored 60 points, while she had an 84.4)

In a match reminiscent of a play-off, in front of a fiery crowd that choked the FA, Olympiacos defeated Real all around. Even the rebounds! Against the top team in the league this day, the Barzoka players got 7 more and despite the offense, had a bad night (only 23% on 3-pointers) they played a tenacious defense, chased after every contested ball and, in the end, won the apotheosis.

a playoff, but also a playoff victory. Olympiacos We have reached the top of the ranking With a 13-7 record, they are the first of four teams with the same record. The advantage they got against Madrid is much more important, because it will serve in any match in the end either with Real, or with a third team (with the exception of Monaco, against which they lost twice).

The 65% that the Greek champion has achieved consistently, shows a total of 22 victories, which guarantees an advantage at home, although he is used to saying (which he does very well) George Bartzokas The first goal is to qualify for the ‘8’ and the only thing he can care about is the next match.

If the victory over Virtus last week was very important due to special circumstances, then the victory over Real Madrid will count twice in the final result.

Marines speak…

The match was reminiscent of the Wild West. Olympiacos was not mistaken, on the contrary, they responded with the same coin to the dynamic play of Real Madrid. He needed the help of … Marines, first of all Comrade Thomas Walkop. In the fierce battle on the ground, the blond guard had no problem standing up, but he put his offensive talent into the equation.

Playing defenses known for being versatile, Walkup finished the game as… his team’s leading scorer with 18 points (close to his own record of 19 points) on 7/11 shots (3/5tr), Among them is the ingeniously designed bell beater At the end of the half, he raised the difference to 8 pence, a handicap that Real Madrid could not overcome. Thomas did it all in this game, too, except continue his accurate free-throw streak that stopped at 23/23!

Next came McKissick. With speed gained from Bologna’s Cecrafento Arena, even though he was far from goal (0/3tr, 2/5b) he made the right decisions when Olympiacos needed his vertical game in a one-on-one, reading all the phases he got right. And those… he spoiled them for Real with his overzealous defenses, even if his stats didn’t record any steals. He must have raised his hands to deflect more than ten or twelve times!

Finally, Tariq Black appeared. The seasoned American is an impressive luxury for Olympiacos, considering the third length is usually a bit of a play. However, when he needs to, he’s the first to do so, as he did throughout nearly all of the second half, positioning his body to empty the racket for Sloka, racking up nine rebounds (four offensively), and finishing stages with a perfect “dip” in the perfectly contoured paddle. Bfal and secondly Boloboi.

Tavares, who is a big headache for any team, may have started with 4/4 scoring 8 points in the first 8 minutes, but he did not judge the development of the match because Olympiacos managed to slowly remove him from the game and not suffer from … his huge body. Black played his part there as well, culminating in a rebound that saw Tavares 221cm lap him.

Even the stage is enough

In such a game where corpses were falling from the first second up to a point enough to add to the team’s tally. Peters’ offensive error, Kanaan’s three-pointer (which pushed the lead to +13) on a night neither of them will remember for the rest of their careers is credited to the entire team.

Olympiacos had two other players, besides Wockap, with double-digit points. Kostas Sloukas who had 11 points and 6 assists but also great stamina in a relentless pursuit even in an unorthodox fashion by Adam Hanka and Sasha Vyzenkov who could have finished with a score of points if he didn’t have 0/6 three pointers. . Something very unusual for this year’s MVP for Olympiacos, who have counted 23 of their last 24 matches, and have at least one of their three pointers accurate.

Sasha, who shoots 41.2% from distance this year, is clearly in for the next game. Start; Another great match is coming, this one against Maccabi in Irini and Phileas another week ago where Olympiacos will play the two Turkish teams. First with Fener (31/1) in Istanbul and then with Efes (3/2) in Valero…