By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
Brose Baskets was better than Olympiacos in Piraeus and had the complete control of the match for the vast majority of the game. In the end, the final 72 – 77 brought Bamberg’s second win in the Top 16.
Both teams began by being a bit hesitant in their offensive choices which led to wrong choices and poor shooting in the starting minutes of the match, since the score was 4-7 in the mid of the first quarter. Brose Baskets started to move the ball quite patiently, finding the right player at the ideal spot and… at a timely manner for some important open shots that made it 7 – 15. Although Olympiacos became a bit stronger with Daniel Hacket’s entrance, the German team kept working like a swiss clock and having a small control of the match. Darius Miller had 6 points for Brose Baskets at the first quarter.
The hosts greatly improved their defense in the second period, subsequently increasing their rhythm on the other side of the court and finally finding the good views to the basket they needed. Darius Johnson Odom and DJ Strawberry with 5 points each brought Olympiacos close 24 – 25, but that began one more assault by Brose Baskets. The great positioning and accurate passing, brought an almost perfect spacing for Trinchieri’s players who kept shooting blazes from the perimeter having 6/9 3point shots in the the game. This time, it was Janis Strelnieks that did a lot of damage for his team
Leon Radosevic’s 6 consecutive points helped Bamberg enter the third quarter with an 0-8 run that brought the guests a 20 plus lead! It was then that the sporadic good plays of Olympiacos started to become frequent enough to bring a change in the momentum of the game. The duo of Daniel Hackett and D.J. Strawberry combined strong defensive plays with scoring on offense and slowly the Reds started to chew more and more bits of the deficit, making it a 10 point game.
Although the general aura was positive for the hosts’ side, Brose Baskets managed to open the final period with 5 unanswered points. Some consecutive turnovers, or mistakes in general, increased the nervousness with which Olympiacos attacked. Even then, coach Sfairopoulos players reacted by finally making the big shots they were looking for throughout the whole match. Steadily, the Reds began one of their usual comeback attempts, although Darius Miller kept having an amazing night. It was not enough. Brose Baskets sealed the victory when after Vassilis Spanoulis made it 72 – 74 with 11 seconds to go, Bradley Wanamaker scored 2/2 from the free throw line. The guests couldn’t, and ultimately didn’t, lose that game.