By Panos Katsiroubas/ info@eurohoops.net
After the analysis of the game of Maccabi against Barcelona today we will focus on the game of Fenerbahce against Olympiakos in Istanbul.
Olympiacos took a huge win in Istanbul against Fenerbahce Ulker which led the reds in the 3-0 and the 1st place together with CSKA. The game of Istanbul was a game of defensive plans and passion in both ends of the floor.
The 1st goal of Fenerbahce was to stop Spanoulis and don’t give him space to execute and create. Bogdanovic was effective in terms of individual defense and the Turkish team used immediate switches in the screens for Spanoulis away of the ball. They also used hedge out that were more attacking when Vesely was playing as center. Spanoulis in the early stages was out of the game committing many mistakes.
On the other hand Fenerbahce was looking for pick n roll plays especially when Zisis and Preldzic were together on the floor looking for passes either in the paint especially for Vesely, who scored early points, either for passing in the week side for Bogdanovic mostly in the wings.
Olympiacos used switches in almost every defensive play and faced some problems especially in the post from Vesely who was used in both forward and center position during the game. When Goudelock was on the floor Fenerbahce was looking for isolation plays. He made some big shots and gave a boost in the 2nd and in the early stages of the 4th quarter but in the end he messed up the final plays. At the end of the day he scored 23 points with 20 FG attempts.
Olympiacos used a trick to stop the creation of Bjelica. The reds used in many plays Darden as a power forward in order to stop his penetration from the perimeter to the basket. Bjelica finished the game with ZERO assists and little influence in the offensive game of Fenerbahce and this was a huge achievement for Olympiakos. The reds also didn’t let easy points in the transition that is huge weapon for Fenerbahce.
In offense Olympiacos moved the ball a lot in the week side after screens and Lojeski made huge shots. The close out defenses of Fenerbahce were very slow in the weak side and in this way the reds scored the points from the perimeter that didn’t found from Spanoulis or the centers of the team during the game.
In the end this game was considered from the quality and the experience of Olympiakos. Some quick and without logic plays from Goudelock, a silly foul from Bogdanovic and 2 huge 3pt shots from Printezis and Spanoulis gave the win to Olympiacos. This win becomes bigger for the reds if we assume that they lost 2 key players of their rotation during the game. Lafayette and Petway were injured but Olympiakos with Katsivelis and Darden in the power forward position find the solutions needed especially in defense.
Fenerbahce is improving a lot their defense but they have to think more during the game and not play impulsively. This is the main reason they lost the game today. This is a team that grows and improves as the season proceeds. They really miss a dominator center but they have to move on with their current roster and support it till the end.