Day 15 Euroleague

Olympiacos - Fenerbahce

* Fener started the game with Nunnally as a SG (and Sloukas as the point guard). It was a creative idea from Obradovic, but it failed. Nunnally was having difficulty with putting the ball on the floor, and Olympiacos put pressure on PG Sloukas. As a result, Fener could not develop any kind of offensive game. Nunnaly was sent to the bench after 4 minutes, Obradovic did not repeat later that experiment.

* Obradovic sent Dixon to the court in order to solve the ball handling problem. Dixon had a terrible night (with -1 PIR), which stressed out how much Fenerbahce is missing Bogdanovic – a guard who can put the ball on the floor, orchester the offence abd create instant points when everything is stuck. How stuck was Fener's offence? Olyimpacis allowed them just 9 points in the first quarter, using only one foul.

* Later on Kalinic was playing as the SG. Since he is also not a perfect match for this position, the Turks tried to post him up against smaller defenders. That idea also failed.

* Olympiacos started with Birch as a center. As I predicted in the pre-season, Birch is taking control of the center position. He is showing great defence – was able to stop Udoh tonight – and playing well the pick'n'roll with Spanoulis. His best quality however is great hustle – a character which is always being appreciated in a greek club – which leads to offensive rebounds. He had seven of those.

* Everybody knows how great player Spanoulis is. Offensively, he is capabale of doing anything on the court. Sfairopoulos holds probably this point of view either. Olympiacos' offence is dependet heavily on number 7 in red. He gets the ball, and deceides what do to next – penetration, pick'n'roll, to throw a three pointer. The other players are lining up on the arch. They know that eventually Spanoulis will find them with a master pass. It is nice to watch and effective, but holds a danger. Such a “centralist” team, which based mainly on one guy, is easy to stop. The big advantage of having such an influental player can become a disadvantage. They can look at their opponent, who currently is very dependent on Bobby Dixon. When he is having a bad night, well, you saw the result.

* And Spanoulis did find his teammates free for three pointers. Once the open shots are sinking in, players get confiedent, and then they can nail also more difficut shots, like step back and three pointers with the board. Olympiacos had 50% from beyond the arch at halftime, Fener just 1/9. That's the story of the game. It is not Fener's horrible precentage – Olympiacos simply did not allow them to make shots, destroying their offensive game by putting pressure on the ball. The turkish finished the first half with ust 6 assists (just as passed on his own).

* This is how dependency looks like: in beginning of the fourth quarter, when it seemed that garbage time is on, Spanoulis got a rest of some minutes on the bench. Fener reduced their deficit to 13 points in that time. But Spanoulis was sent to court too late – Fener was already having the momentum. Statisticis tend to balace out: now it was Fener who as making the three shots, and Olympiacos who was not able to buy a basket. Spanoulis saved in the the day for Olympiacos in the last minute with crucial basket, then with assist, and then with a rebound.

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