By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
BOLOGNA, Italy—The first gameday after February’s break in the EuroLeague featured what looked like an easy road matchup for the first-seeded Olympiacos, visiting 16th-seeded Virtus in Bologna.
Indeed, that’s what the script translated on the court heading into halftime.
Following a first bucket by Nikola Akele, the red-and-white side entered a 17-0 run to get full control and dominate the paint.
Things took an unexpected turn when the two teams returned from the locker rooms, as Dusko Ivanovic’s team halved the margin from 28 to 14 points.
Despite living through some rough minutes, Olympiacos were still able to come out on top 92-70 thanks to their early lead.
Olympiacos cruising
Georgios Bartzokas tried to limit his players’ time spent on the court. Evan Fournier, for example, finished with 12 points and 6 assists in just 17:34 minutes on the court.
Sasha Vezenkov had his usual contribution, with 12 points and 8 rebounds. Collectively, Olympiacos had six players (Fall, Vezenkov, Papanikolaou, Peters, Milutinov, Fournier) scoring in double digits.
Without the long-time injured Will Clyburn, Achille Polonara, and Toko Shengelia, the home side relied mostly on Isaia Cordinier (15 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists).
“Virtus player with pride, they went really aggressively on offensive boards. We had a lot of assists and tried to involve all the players in our offensive game,” said Olympiacos coach Giorgos Bartzokas about the hosts before explaining that having a roster with many talented players can be a headache sometimes, but definitely is an asset, using the example of Alec Peters after being asked about his limited minutes.
“From one side, it’s a problem for me because Alec is a great player, but we also have the MVP of the EuroLeague, Sasha Vezenkov, in the same spot. On one side is a headache; on the other, we have the potential in the power forward position to do a lot of different things”, Bartzokas explained.
Getting their 10th victory in the latest 11 games played in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, losing only to Fenerbahce in Round 23, Olympiacos extended their record to 20-7, keeping the throne of the standings.
Virtus Bologna, instead, doesn’t have anything more to ask for this season. They’re now 16th at 7-20.
PHOTO CREDIT: Eurokinissi