By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Vasilis Spanoulis had a bad game with 9 points, 1/9 field goals, five assist and five turnovers but Euroleague champion Olympiacos can count on its other players. After Istanbul the self confidence of the team got more than a boost and the Reds beat Panathinaikos 84-78 in the first Greek final with Giorgos Printezis (18 p.) and Kostas Papanikolaou (16 p., 8 r.) leading the way.
Add to them Kyle Hines who had a monster game in defense plus 13 points and Martinas Gecevicius who scored 11 points and two crucial three pointers in the last quarter. The energy and the defense of Olympiacos, thought, made the difference and covered problems like the 56% shooting from the free throws line (20/36).
Panathinaikos was out of sync, specially in the second and the third quarter. Greek center Ian Vougioukas was used as a primary offensive weapon and produced 20 points, but it was not enough for the Green team. “We know that we have to protect our home advantage and establish a good tempo in the series, but we can’t relax”, said Hines in the press conference.
“The energy is important in the play offs, as is also the first game and Olympiacos has now the advantage”, was the reaction of coach Zeliko Obradovic who asked from the fans of Panathinaikos to support their team in the second final and also respect Olympiacos. “We had a lot of pressure in the beginning of the game, we missed 16 free throws and that’s a problem, but we found again Gecevicius and I have to say that Kostas Papanikolaou is now mature”, added the Reds’ boss Dusan Ivkovic. Olympiacos’ guard Acie Law did not play in the game, but will probably be ready for the second final on Thursday.
Olympiacos – Panathinaikos 84-78
OLYMPIACOS: Hines 13 (3 bl.), Antic 9, Spanoulis 9, Dorsey 3, Keselj 2, Papadopoulos, Gecevicius 11, Printezis 18, Papanikolaou 16 (8 r.), Mantzaris 2, Sloukas 1, Katsivelis
PANATHINAIKOS: Maric, Perperoglou 12, Batiste 10, Sato 3, Tsartsaris 3, Diamantidis 15, Vougioukas 20, Calathes 7, Smith, Kaimakoglou 4, Jasikevicius 4