Last night, Olympiacos defeated Panathinaikos 72-67. Our affiliate website EuroStep were there documenting the night’s events. Here is what went down.
Another Greek derby between Olympiakos and Panathinaikos is in the books, with the Reds practically clinching home court advantage for the league finals and both teams setting their sights to the Cup final, which will take place this Sunday. Here’s what we learned Monday night:
Vangelis Mantzaris can’t be replaced, but things are not that bad:
You would be forgiven for thinking that losing Mantzaris for the rest of the season is not the end of the world for the champs. After all, isn’t he the guy who just brings the ball upcourt, gives it to Spanoulis and gets out of the way? Well, he is also an all-Euroleague caliber defender, a very reliable shooter from beyond the arc and the guy who gets Olympiacos into their offense with great precision, even against the most feared full-court press defensive schemes.
Still, Olympiakos’ first real test without their floor general featured a couple of encouraging developments. Kostas Sloukas did a solid job running their offense and defending against Dimitris Diamantidis. Even though he seemed uncharacteristically hesitant to shoot at times, he still made sure that the ball was moving and did enough to force Dimitris Diamantidis into a relatively inefficient shooting performance.
Meanwhile, Acie Law pushed the ball in transition, proved that he is the second-best perimeter defender on Oly’s roster, made a couple of trademark tough jumpers with the clock winding down and rediscovered his niche as the secondary pick and roll guard when Spanoulis was crowded. Despite his poor marksmanship from the three-point line and a couple of rushed passes, he and Sloukas made sure that Spanoulis’ off night (6 turnovers, 2/11 shooting from the field) did not sidetrack Olympiakos’ offense. Also, Papanikolaou and Perperoglou playing well in the same game after a long time – and combining to hit 4 of 6 threes – certainly didn’t hurt.
Panathinaikos took forever to get into their sets…
I would really like to give Olympiakos’ defense all the credit but the Greens could really use someone to run their offense. Whenever Diamantidis was moved off the ball, the initial action on Panathinaikos’ offense turned into an adventure – and not the fun kind. Marcus Banks would either overdribble or take awful shots (or both). Roko Ukic played with no purpose. Coach Argyris Pedoulakis even tried the seldom-used Vassilis Xanthopoulos, but after a promising start, a combination of risky passes and poor shooting really hurt his team.
…but they still generated enough good looks, especially from outside.
Olympiakos’ weakside defenders would try to cheat off their man as much as possible, in order to either double team Sofoklis Schortsianitis inside, or help on the screener rolling to the basket against pick and rolls. Panathinaikos actually made some pretty good reads on these rotations, but with their designated spot-up shooters – Mike Bramos, Jason Kapono and Jonas Maciulis – combining to hit 1 of 7 three pointers, it didn’t make any difference. In any case coach Giorgos Bartzokas really needs to find a way to limit these open looks.
The Cup will be won in the paint.
Heading into Monday’s game Panathinaikos was perceived to hold an advantage inside and in the first half that perception turned into reality. Sofo was able to draw to quick fouls on Giorgi Shermadini and led his team in scoring. Stephan Lasme kept opponents off the paint and overall Olympiakos had zero offensive rebounds at intermission. But in the second half, things changed. Sofo didn’t have much left in the tank after his customary 15-minute run. Kyle Hines began to assert himself. And Lasme was cut off from his guards (excluding a sweet alley oop dunk off a side pick and roll with Diamantidis). More importantly, Olympiakos finished the game with 10 offensive boards on 27 missed field goals, which in turn allowed them to maximize their advantage on the perimeter.
Looking ahead to Sunday, Panathinaikos will need to not only make their threes, but also dominate the paint for 40 minutes. Their offense will not become smoother overnight, but they can turn the Cup final into a bar fight, by pounding the ball inside. On the other hand, Shermadini will must stop picking up silly fouls, as his length could provide an effective counter to Lasme’s athleticism and his proficiency in the two-man game could further expose Sofo’s weakness on defense.
In any case, both teams are not scaring anyone around Europe, at least for now. But that doesn’t make their match ups any less exciting.
Article from www.euro-step.net is here – http://euro-step.net/2013/02/the-rivalry-rages-on-olympiakos-and-panathinaikos-meet-twice-in-a-week/
