Olympiacos took revenge on Valencia Basket for the game lost last week in Lyon
Olympiacos took revenge on Valencia Basket for the game lost last week in Lyon
I never saw Olympiacos Piraeus so determined to win like in the yesterday’s game against Valencia Basket. The Greeks used a lot of energy smashing the visitors with 89-63, but the margin was even more than 30 points in the 4th quarter. Probably Olympiacos desire was to prove that the last game lost in Lyon was just an accident and they are great team, with a lethal combination between offense and defense.
Valencia Basket had no chance in front of the desperate effort of the Greek squad who fight for every possession as if it were a close match. I, personally, think Olympiacos played extremely well this time, showing quality basketball but it was no need to such a big margin. Playing hard in an easy game can lead you to unnecessary injuries. Spanoulis had a huge game with 17 points (4/7 at 2 points, and 3/6 from the arc) and 6 assists, but let’s not forget that he is not young anymore and he is coming back after injuries. My opinion is that Olympiacos could slow down a bit the engine and relax when the gap is very big between them and the visitors. They played this game against Valencia as it was a Euroleague final, but it wasn’t.
It’s good to have a brave attitude and to treat every game seriously, but sometimes forcing yourself to beat with 30 points is useless. The big advantage of Olympiacos is they don’t have to compete in the Greek league with the same roster so they can be fresh and concentrate only on Euroleague games. Even so, I would keep my forces for the real Euroleague clashes with CSKA Moscow, F.C. Barcelona, Real Madrid, Fenerbahce, Anadolu and the eternal rivals from Panathinaikos. Why wasting them to smash the newcomers by 25-30 points? How does it help?
Photo: euroleague.net
Gratian Cormos
