By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
Olympiacos was once again the underdog in the Euroleague Final Four, but the Greeks were also the defending champions. And they defended like champions, beating CSKA Moscow 69-52. Nobody expected this game to play out like this with the probable exception of coach Bartzokas and his players.
CSKA had the best offense this season in Euroleague, but couldn’t do anything on Friday, despite its front line advantage. In theory the Russians could just get the ball inside the paint and score, but that didn’t happened. Olympiacos won almost every duel in the court, got the lead from the end of the first period (24-17) and never looked back.
Everyone was waiting for the reaction of CSKA, but its members seemed still in shock because of last year’s final. Kyle Hines (photo) and Pero Antic with 13 points each were the top scorers for the winners – also of the game as Sonny Weems had also 13 points for CSKA – and season MVP Vasilis Spanoulis had the luxury of mediocre numbers in offense (8 p., 3/12 FG). Hines had also 10 rebounds and exposed All Euroleague center Nenad Krstic (2 p., 2 r.). Milos Teodosic couldn’t save the day, as he had one more very bad night in an crucial game, and Messina lost for the first time in a Final Four semifinal.
“We don’t have time to celebrate, we have a final on Sunday”, said the hero of last year’s final Giorgos Printezis after the game.