By Panos Katsiroumpas/ info@eurohoops.net
After the game in Barcelona the Magnifying Glass focuses in the big derby between Olympiacos and Fenerbahce in Piraeus
The Turkish team took a huge away win and also overcome the defeat in Istanbul in terms of point differential, a fact that gives them a huge advantage in the run for home court advantage in the playoffs.
Fenerbahce came totally prepared to face all the strong parts of Olympiacos game. They played huge defense and stopped the majority of the offensive plays, and on the other hand they showed that they now have roles and chemistry in offense.
The primary target of Fenerbahce was to stop the open shots after screen from Spanoulis, and also stop all the penetrations to the basket. They decided to defend 2 vs 2 in the pick and roll plays of Olympiacos, in order to limit the rotations and switches of their defense and not open the defensive spaces. By defending this way they didn’t let open weak side executions, and they decided to risk the inside passes after pick and roll. This is how Dunston and Hunter score many easy baskets, but on the other sides the backcourt players didn’t found space to shoot well.
They stopped also the penetrations of Spanoulis and limited his scoring offering to his team. They also played good transition defense mainly because Olympiacos couldn’t secure the defensive rebounds in order to find the opportunity to run.
The Reds desperately needed a player that can create problems in isolation plays in order to force double teams and rotations. Only Lafayette made some personal plays and score some big baskets, but he was alone and in the end his effect on the game was not so big. The Reds also tried to put the ball in the post, especially for Printezis and Darden, but after the 1st period they didn’t create many problems in the defensive plan of Fenerbahce.
Fenerbahce showed that they now have strategy and roles in offense. This is mainly a result of the presence of HUGE Nemanja Bjelica, a creator and scorer from the power forward position, which allows Goudelock and Hickman to be together in the court without the need of them being the creators. Both of them are great executors from the weak side and can damage any defense in the switches and rotations, although they are not creators.
This part of the game is a responsibility of 4 players, Zisis, Preldzic, Bogdanovic and Bjelica. The ball distribution, despite the pressure was impressive with good passes after the screens and also good extra passes if the close out defense was good after the 1st pass. After the first months, during which the offensive game of Fenerbahce was mainly impulsive, now they seem to play with maturity and with their mind.
The key player in this game was Savas in offense. He was used as a step-creator after pick and roll plays, without the obligation to execute but with the obligation to see the open players and make the passes when the defense of Olympiacos closed inside the paint.
The Turkish team controlled totally the rebounding battle, with many seconf chance opportunities and scoring. They were also very lucky to have Goudelock in a great offensive day. He had perfect executions mainly from the weak side and also in isolation plays but without exaggerating in the number of attempts.
Olympiacos was in a bad shooting day and this aspect helped Fenerbahce to concentrate their defense inside and close the gaps and spaces. The absences of Olympiacos played their role mostly in terms of size but this cannot be an excuse for the back to back Champions of 2013 and 2014. Concluding we can say that this was a win for the best prepared team and this team was Fenerbahce.