Never underestimate the heart of a champion, and never underestimate Vassilis Spanoulis.
The regular season MVP turned a woeful first half and replied with 22 points to lead Olympiacos to a 100–88 victory over Real Madrid to claim back-to-back Euroleague crowns, the second team in the Euroleague era to do so after Maccabi Electra did it in 2004 and 2005.
Acie Law poured in 20 points and Kyle Hines 12, but this was about Spanoulis, who was an easy choice for the Final Four’s Most Valuable Player, becoming only the second player to win that MVP award three times. Toni Kukoc was the other player to achieve that feat.
When Spanoulis was out of synch; so were his side, when he was form; man, so were the champs.
“The last two years have been very difficult for me, I headed to the locker room [at half-time] knowing that the Madrid players were surrounding me everytime I had the ball,” Spanoulis said through a translator. “For me, I was just thinking about helping my team-mates and encouraging them. When they played better, I could play better also.”
“We did it again. It’s an amazing feeling,”added Law. “We didn’t stop to believe for one second, and that’s what makes this team special.”
The intensity of a championship game was there for all to see, Olympiacos unfortunately couldn’t match that level of energy that its fans generated to start, despite a Printezis picking up where he famously left off in Istanbul with a baseline floater.
From then, a 20-7 run saw Real Madrid take a commanding lead, capped by a three-pointer from Rudy Fernandez as his side hit five of their first six attempts from behind the arc.
Four of those five three’s were simple penetration plays – passed back out to the open shooter. The Reds were undone by simple basketball.
The first quarter though lacked flow, the referees seeming intent on calling fouls instead of letting the two teams jostle for position xand battle it out in the final game of the season.
By the end of the first ten minutes, Real Madrid looked to have broken Olympiacos’ spirit. Up 27-10, they looked out of ideas, even at this stage.
Then we were reminded of Istanbul 2012.
Olympiacos came back into the final, and true to their team spirit were fearless. It was a different side that was witnessed in the first quarter.
Roared on by a sea of red followers, a 7-0 run that begun with a three from Pero Antic set the tone. And by the time Antic was found again, this time inside for two; coach Laso had seen enough and called the troops in.
The response: a three from Law.
Madrid though hung on, and led 41-37 at the half.
Then, the Spanoulis show began. Three straight triples on three straight Olympiacos possessions gave his side a 48-45 lead and the energy of the O2 Arena was a sea of red. Madrid were stunned.
Carlos Suarez led a mini-fightback and after three periods, the game was nicely balanced at 61-61 heading to the last quarter.
Then Olympiacos’ true spirit shone.
A 10-0 start rocked the Liga Endesa side, and despite pulling it to within five thanks to Jaycee Carroll but a 9-0 burst ended all hope.
Even then, Madrid planned a fightback … the last word though, fell to Spanoulis. His three made it 90-79, and the game was over.
Rudy Fernandez led the runners-up with 21 points, and admitted afterwards that a lack of experience at this stage of the Euroleague was a factor in defeat. THis was Madrid’s first European final since 1995, only one player remains from that final: the head coach Pablo Laso himself.
“We tried to be aggressive this game,” explained Fernandez. “They started going inside more after we started getting into foul trouble. That worked for them, and Olympiacos has a lot of experience in these games and in these situations. We have to learn from this for the next season.”
“They played a great game, Laso conceded. “It was very competitive from the beginning. And they are the true champion, because they had a great year all around.”
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