Olympiacos - Fenerbahce
International - Euroleague, Playoffs, Quarterfinal
The Basketball Expert
Olympiacos defeated Fenerbahce by 79:68 in the first game of the Euroleague quarterfinals, but it was much more difficult for them to win than final score suggests. Key interval was in third quarter when Isaiah Canaan made five three-pointers. Olympiacos shot 16/29 on three-pointers overall and when that's the case, it’s impossible to beat them. Sasha Vezenkov was at MVP-level, but at low post, Olympiacos' players had trouble overpowering Dyshawn Pierre and Nigel Hayes-Davis. Kostas Sloukas and Kostas Papanikolaou performance was missing and we should expect their bigger role in game number two.
Although he traveled to Greece, Scottie Wilbekin missed game number one. Given the circumstances, it seems head coach Dimitris Itoudis will have to give him some minutes in this clash. At the end of the game, Melih Mahmutoglou and Carsen Edwards got a chance. Fenerbahce has to expand its rotation because otherwise they have nothing to ask for. Their offense led by Nick Calathes and Marko Guduric is too slow. Someone needs to fast pace, just as Tyler Dorsey needs to play incomparably better because he has done more harm than good to his team. The aforementioned Pierre and Hayes-Davis can win their battles as well as Fenerbahce's tall players, but the backcourt has to respond.
With a bigger role for some players from the bench and with the possible return of Wilbekin, Fenerbahce can handle Olympiacos. If Canaan hadn't exploded in the third quarter, it could very easily happened that the first game would have been decided in a close ending. Coach Itoudis has never lost a playoff series in the Euroleague, and if his team goes 0-2, it will likely be game over. We should expect an even more serious Fenerbahce team than was the case on Wednesday.
Pistol Pete
By winning the first match of the Euroleague quarterfinals 79:68, Olympiakos earned important confidence against Fenerbahce - they can believe that they are a more complete and diverse team than their rivals from Istanbul.
It is clear that the host in Piraeus, this Friday in the second match of the three-win playoff series, will be more relieved than two days earlier. With an outstanding defense, Olympiacos managed to completely stifle Fenerbahce's excellent attacking options in the first leg on Wednesday. Now it is expected that the famous Greek club will find a better attacking quality, for a potential new convincing victory against the Turkish team.
The team, which receives only 75.6 points per match in the Euroleague this season, had only ten losses in 34 rounds until the playoffs and demonstrated the most defensively competent basketball in the season of the European elite. Olympiacos showed these qualities in the first match against Fenerbahce: on Wednesday, they reduced the opponent to only 25 field goals with 45.5 percent of realization. Fenerbahce scored only 68 points in a match in which they shot threes well (nine from 20 attempts, i.e. 45 percent success rate) - which is the best testimony to how powerful the hosts' defense was.
Fenerbahce can get a chance at least for a more uncertain ending, if they reduce the number of lost balls - the Turkish team had 14 in the first game, twice as many as the winning team. However, extremely dedicated athletes in the Olympiacos team will look for and find chances for easy points in counters.
Not only because of this game - the whole season showed that defensively, Fenerbahce is a significantly worse team than Olympiacos, the Turkish team receives as many as 81.6 points per match. It is to be expected that the host in Piraeus on Friday will achieve a better score of points than the 79 from the first game. Of course, the most is expected from Bulgarian forward Sasha Vezenkov, who with 17.7 points per match is the team's top scorer this season, but also the top rebounder with an average of seven rebounds.
The defense of Olympiacos will depend a lot on what many consider to be a key player – playmaker Thomas Walkup. In addition to averaging 5.8 assists, he also has an outstanding 1.9 steals per game.
The teams share an exceptional rivalry, the Greek club leads 14:13 in the Euroleague head-to-head record, and now has three wins in a row against this rival. In January, Olympiacos won as many as 93:73 away from home, and before that in December, they won very convincingly 94:67 at home. It is clear that this opponent suits the big Greek club, and that Olympiacis have an excellent chance for another convincing triumph in front of their fans.