By Panos Katsiroumpas/ info@eurohoops.net
In this version of the Magnifying Glass we will focus in the big game of Olympiacos against CSKA Moscow and the 1st defeat of the Russian team in Piraeus.
Both teams started with the same attitude in defense but with Olympiacos giving emphasis in the attacking hedge out defense from their centers. The 2 teams used switches in the majority of plays and tried to take the best from the miss matches. The team from Piraeus started a little slow in offense with the ball getting stuck in the perimeter and CSKA rolling more.
Everything changed in the 2nd quarter with the 2nd foul of Vorontsevich and Olympiacos took all the possible advantages. The Reds in almost every possession were looking to put the ball inside to Printezis that had miss match all the time as he was guarded from Nichols and Weems that couldn’t match his power and ability in the post. Printezis scored baskets, created foul trouble and caused big damage to the defensive plans of CSKA. He also opened spaces for Hunter and took some great decisions in terms of passing in the perimeter.
On the hand the defense of Olympiacos started to be more attacking. They denied the baskets in the paint, the hedge outs especially of Hunter were insane with Olympiacos stealing balls and finishes plays in the fast break. The goal of the defense of Olympiacos was not to give spaces in the backcourt stars of CSKA. They pushed their bodies in the limits and didn’t give anything easy for CSKA.
The Russian team faced the big absence of Jackson and this absence was more obvious actually in the 2nd half in terms of ball pressure. Olympiacos started to attack on Teodosic with CSKA playing man to man defense on the player that had the ball and all the others in zone, closing spaces. Olympiacos found penetrations in the man to man defense and passes when the help tried to cover the defensive hole leading to big outside shooting especially from Lafayette and Lojeski.
Weems was totally out of the game, Vorontsevich in offense was not in his best day and the offensive weapons of CSKA were limited. They tried to play with Hines some pick n roll plays but the helps from the week side and the recoveries of Olympiacos defense were very quick. Hines didn’t see the open passes and many times had trouble just to see the basket and committed a lot of turnovers.
As a finishing line we can say that when Olympiacos plays in this physical way they can win any team in Euroleague. Big boost from the offensive rebounds and the turnovers that Olympiacos forced CSKA to commit. Teodosic and De Colo had the same number of assists and turnovers. With the creation of CSKA in the worst night this year the defeat was the fair result