By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
A week ago Fenerbahce put on court one of its top performances in the season so far, beating CSKA Moscow 95 – 79 on the road for the 14th Week of the EuroLeague regular season.
But last night (29/12) the Turkish champs struggled big time against a well read, cement-quality defense of Olympiacos. Combined with their own inability to cash in their open looks to the basket, it led Fenerbahce‘s players to an offensive stalemate.
Fenerbahce players fell behind 40 – 21 at halftime and were ultimately defeated 71 – 62 by the Reds despite a comeback spark at the fourth quarter.
“Offensively we were out of sync,” Bobby Dixon said to Eurohoops. “We scored poorly in the first half. Only 21 points. 1/9 from beyond the arc. It happens. We’ll have good days and bad days. And myself… I didn’t make a lot of shots. But that’s my thing you know so I’m going to keep shooting. I’m a shooter. It’s s my job.”
According to numbers, it was Dixon’s worst Euroleague night in the current season, hence the talk on his problems vs Olympiacos. The American guard scored 9 points, but shot 1/4 two-pointers and 2/9 from downtown. His PIR? Below zero (-1).
“I don’t think it’s too much about what Olympiacos did,” he replied when asked if his opponents wrecked his usual offensive mojo. “I was just out of rhythm. It happens man. I’ll get back in the next game and try to do the same thing that I usually do. And make these shots.”
This performance came in total contrast with last week’s match vs CSKA. Dixon rained fire and brimstone over the EuroLeague defending champs that night with 25 points (on 4/10 2-pointers, 5/10 3-pointers) while dishing out 6 assists and stealing the ball four times.
Of course, this kind of output was far from coincidental. Facing the team that beat his own in last season’s EuroLeague Final in Berlin was reason enough to spur him in this kind of sizzling action.
“It’s natural to want to play like this against the team that you lost a title game. In the final seconds and then in overtime, let’s not forget. Of course, we had an increased amount of motivation as a team. But you know… shots were falling that day. Shots weren’t falling today. As I said, it happens.”
Fenerbahce completed the first leg of the EuroLeague Regular Season with a 9 – 4 record and standing at the sixth or seventh (depending on Darussafaka Dogus’ result vs Barcelona) place. What does Dixon think of the number of victories he and his teammates managed?
“It’s not too bad. We should improve in clutch moments and we should be ready in the second part of the regular season. If we fix some details I’m not worrying.”
One of the things that will enable Fener to perform better is the upcoming return of Bogdan Bogdanovic to action, which is estimated to take place in the upcoming EuroLeague match vs Olimpia Milano in Istanbul.
“Bogdan is a big part of what we do here. He’s one of our best players. With him coming back I think we’re going to be a lot better. Deeper. He’ll be back next game and we’ll be better.”