Baskonia hosting Olympiacos in an interesting derby
In Fernando Buesa Arena from Vitoria-Gasteiz, Round 4 schedules an interesting clash between Baskonia and Olympiacos, both teams having a 1-2 record so far.
After an impressive Round 1 win in Kaunas, Baskonia lost two very close games at Khimki and Fenerbahce. On the other side, Olympiacos had an even more complicated start of the season. After their bad performance in Round 1, coach David Blatt resigned and assistant coach Kestutis Kemzura took over. Reports initially said that the Greeks were looking to hire a new head coach, but in the end, they decided to give credit to the Lithuanian, who already announced that some roster changed will also take place in Piraeus. Olympiacos is negotiating now contracts with Taylor Rochestie, the former Euroleague scorer and with the ex-NBA center Willie Reed, two experienced players who are expected to join the Greek club very soon. The new acquisitions can change the face of the squad, helping Olympiacos to improve their game. But, for this game against Baskonia, the roster changes can have a negative impact, because the new fellows won’t be on the court for Olympiacos, but some of the existing players are almost sure about their future departure from the club.
On the other hand, the Reds are not playing this season in the Greek league (not with this roster) and this could be an advantage for them in the Euroleague when the condensed schedule and the travels will start to take a toll on the other teams.
It’s hard țo pick a winner for this game, but I would go with the home team. Baskonia played at home in the last round of the Spanish league, so they didn’t have to travel and also the atmosphere around the team seems to be calmer than in Olympiacos’s case.
Photo: euroleague.net
Imre Halasz
