Fenerbahce - Olympiacos
International - Euroleague, Playoffs, Quarterfinal
After three tough defeats against Olympiacos this season, Fenerbahce finally triumphed. And in what way. They "stole" the break in Piraeus and now they need two wins in front of their fans to qualify for the Final Four. Compared to the first game in this series, head coach Dimitris Itoudis adapted and pulled a couple of tricks up his sleeve. For example, Carsen Edwards got much more minutes than usual. In the second quarter, he buried Olympiacos basket with shots from distance. In both games in this series, Fenerbahce had a big advantage on rebounds. Dyshawn Pierre and Nigel Hayes-Davis completely overpowered Sasha Vezenkov and Kostas Papanikolau, while Tonye Jekiri and Johnathan Motley outplayed Moustapha Fall and Tarik Black. With probable Scottie Wilbekin return this week, Fenerbahce's offense will get a huge boost.
Olympiacos were fully deservedly the best team in the Euroleague regular season. Final record (24-10) doesn't even reflect how dominant they were because they had a couple of shocking defeats against much weaker teams (Valencia and Asvel for example). This team has been together for several years and they know each other fantastically. Very often, impression is that they can play together with their eyes closed. The ball goes incredibly fast in offense and that's why they were the second best offense in the Euroleague behind Partizan with an offensive rating of 119.8. Olympiacos have by far the most assists on average (21.5). However, Fenerbahce managed to slow them down in both games. And that probably won't change. For its chance, Olympiacos must look for even better solutions in offense, with the contribution of some players from the bench who have not made a name for themselves so far in this series.
It may be difficult to predict who could take the win in game number three, but surely Fenerbahce and Olympiacos will play a tough game once again. Both teams play patiently and have a way to stop the opponent's offense. In the first game, both teams scored only 147 points combined, even though they hit 25 three-pointers together (Olympiacos even 16). Two days later, percentages from distance was weaker, but there were more easy points inside because some players were tired. Now that they have had enough time to refresh, we should expect another defensive spectacle and a physical fight until the last ball. There won’t be much easy points in Istanbul.