by Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
In Round 15 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, Olympiacos lost 90-86 at home against Crvena Zvezda, but the Greek team left the court furiously because of some controversial decisions by the refereeing trio.
In the post-game press conference, the red-and-white head coach Giorgos Bartzokas hinted at that. “It is difficult to win if you allow 90 points on your home court but there were a lot of strange decisions during the game, so I am really shocked with this”, he said.
Even though unofficially, Olympiacos expressed its doubts to the EuroLeague about some calls in the fourth quarter by the referees Miguel Angel Perez, Michele Rossi, and Marcin Kowalski.
These are the five phases that brought Olympiacos to fury during the game against the Serbian team:
- At 8:45 left in the fourth quarter, with the score at 63-68, Olympiacos shout for an unsportsmanlike foul on Sloukas by Markovic. Bartzokas asked for a challenge, but the referees, watching the instant replay, focused on general phases without focusing on the offensive action.
- At 3:17 left, with the score at 75-82, Olympiacos called for a foul by Lazic on a three-point attempt by Giannoulis Larentzakis.
- At 2:22 left and the score at 77-82, it appears that a foul was committed on the rebound attempt of Kostas Papanikolaou, which would have given free throws to the Greek player, but the referees didn’t call anything.
- At 1:27 left, with the score at 79-82, Kostas Papanikolaou stopped Vildoza, who came out of the court with the ball. However, instead of giving the possession back to Olympiacos, the referees saw a foul on the Red Star player.
- Finally, 25” before the final buzzer, with the score at 84-86, Olympiacos called for an offensive foul on Larentzakis, which would send the home player to the charity stripe to tie the game.