By Lefteris Moutis / moutis@eurohoops.net
Giannis Sfairopoulos managed to completely change Olympiacos’s playing philosophy within a few months, but without changing the team’s status at all, achieving the most difficult Final Four qualification in the red-and-whites’ recent history.
He took over Olympiacos at the beginning of November, and that was preceded by a very bad start to the season because of the knockout by Panathinaikos in the Cup and the loss to Kifisia in the league. “Sfairo” however, managed to wipe all that out, to put his stamp on Olympiacos and take them to the Final Four in Madrid after an amazing series against Barcelona.
The 48-yearold Greek coach is by nature humble and reserved, but he can’t refrain from admitting to Eurohoops that his appetite… has been whetted.
In the series against Barcelona Olympiacos did not have the home advantage and took a heavy defeat in the first game. Nonetheless, the situation was turned around in the space of 48 hours. What did you change for this transformation to occur?
“When the team, at the beginning of the second round of the Top 16, started to get heavily hit with injuries we were forced to change our game and use different line-ups. We were first in the group up to that point, but we finished third after all. So then, I told them that if we are healthy we can win on any court. I believed it and that’s what happened with Barcelona in the end. In the first game in Barcelona, Spanoulis and Petway had just returned and we hand found a rhythm. From the second game on we started to function in a better way owing to the players’ return and our wounded pride from the heavy defeat in the first game.”
Do you think that that’s when the Catalans underestimated you and your players became determined?
“Yes, Barcelona thought that they would qualify easily. We had the perfect game in the second confrontation, but our opponents were definitely not expecting such a response.
When we came back to Greece we were under pressure, because we had won on the road, but I think we handled the situation really well. It wasn’t easy for us to play a perfect game again, but as the games developed in SEF we deserved to qualify, even if it happened at the last moment in both games. The players were mentally prepared, because it’s not just important that you win, it’s also who you win and Barcelona is an established force in European basketball.”
In all the games against Barcelona Olympiacos constantly had fewer possessions and in the fourth game you managed having 3 more. How were lost rebounds and errors reduced? Was it after all a matter of will and not of height?
“I had told the players that the team that would improve in the course of the series would be the team that would qualify. The second game seemed perfect, but, for instance, we lost a lot of rebounds. In every game we showed more and more fighting spirit and played better defense. In the last three games we got Barcelona down to 65-70 points while they had been scoring around 85 throughout the season.”
In the Final Four Olympiacos is once again the outsider. Does this mentality suit the team?
“Everyone knows who CSKA is, what their budget and their capabilities are. We are going to claim the 25% chance that every team has of winning the trophy.”
Shortly after the qualification though you said that, “whoever goes to the Final Four, goes to win the trophy.” Has that sentiment been toned down?
“Of course not, we are going in order to win the Euroleague. What else are we going to Madrid for? A field trip?”
Is the work of a coach who has Spanoulis and Printezis as leaders, on and off the court, easier? Even though you don’t like singling out players, talk about their contribution a little.
“Spanoulis is the team’s leader. He has the personality and the mark of a competitor. He’s one of the greatest players in the history of European basketball. Printezis has left his mark on Olympiacos and he also has leadership qualities and the ability to step up when things get tough. He has proven that not only with the shooting, but also with the personality that he has. But I don’t want to leave any players out. The rest have an important role too. Sloukas comes off the bench and always offers solutions. He doesn’t come behind Spanoulis but competes alongside him as well and we could say that he’s the best sixth man in Europe. Likewise, Mantzaris has a key role and a steady course at the highest level. At the same time, the Greek kids that we have help out and are implanted with the older players’ mentality, but the foreign players as well each of whom has an important role. They are all gears in a well-oiled machine and in order for us to work well we consider all of those gears valuable.”