Olympiacos and Anadolu Efes have gotten to know each other very well in these last four games. But with the last spot in the Final Four in sight, someone’s going to bid farewell to this season’s Euroleague.
Both teams have taken command of their home court and are tied at 2-2, heading into tonight’s showdown at the Peace and Friendship Stadium. For the visitors from Istanbul, they have to break the pattern and leave Greece with a win. It won’t be easy as the reigning Euroleague champions Olympiacos are 9-1 on their home floor and have three victories over Anadolu Efes this season.
Anadolu Efes coach Oktay Mahmuti remains confident and believes in his squad.
“The games against Olympiacos are very competitive,” he says. “I believe that Anadolu Efes has the power to win in Athens the last game of the series. A hard game is waiting for us in Athens. The two teams know their positive and negative ways very well so this converts it all into a chess game. I think that the team who will fight on court and will control its nerves will grab the London ticket.”
Right now, there is no team in the Euroleague that can control their nerves better than Anadolu Efes. In five out the 14 Top 16 games played that were determined by 5 points or less, the Turkish giants have won all of them. In the last encounter, Anadolu came back from a double-digit deficit to win at the buzzer, forcing tonight’s deciding contest.
“The two teams know each other very well,” Anadolu’s Kerem Gonlum said. “In my point of view the team who wants and fights more will be the one to reach the Final Four. We gained morale by winning the last two games in Istanbul. We are in good condition and will put our best efforts on court to reach the Final Four.”
For Olympiacos, a win would mean a rematch at the O2 Arena of the unforgettable final with CSKA Moscow last year in Istanbul. Few expected anything from the Reds last year, but they finished top of the Euroleague pile. The expectation amongst the fans and the neutrals hasn’t changed, but coach Georgios Bartzokas is out to do what predecessor Dusan Ivkovic did in 2012 – and prove them wrong.
Bartzokas would be more than halfway there, just by qualifying for the Final Four. More importantly though, he knows that his side’s home form gives them the edge going into tonight.
“We play the last game in our home. We want the victory and the qualification. This is very important for us,” he said. “It’s the seventh game against Efes this year and I think that the two teams don’t have any secrets. When a coach or a player agrees to play for Olympiacos, he does this in order to play games like this one. Our fans helped us a lot in the first two games and I strongly believe that they are going to do the same [tonight].”
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