Day 18 Euroleague: Olympiacos - Baskonia

* The game started with post up attempts from both teams. On Olympiacos´ side, Spanoulis just could not do his magic against the great defence of Hanga - so they passed the ball inside. By the way, Hanga was showing an amazing defensive performance against Spanoulis the entire evening. Baskonia tried to play in offence on Spanoulis, and take advantage of Budinger´s size.

* 5 minutes to the first quarter Sito Alonso made a wrong decision: he sent Beaubois to the court instead of Hanga. Not just that Beaubois was not able to stop Spanoulis the way Hanga did (well, few players can), allowing him to take control of the offence and pass 5 assists in 5 minutes; Beaubois forced offensive plays, turn the ball over and showed very dubios shot selection. But the worst was yet to come.

* Olympiacos killed the game in the second quarter without Spanoulis. They played with their most athletic, defensive squad to destroy the basques. It took Baskonia 4 minutes to score their first basket in that quarter. On the other end of the court, Baskonia tried to play a smart 1-3-1 zone defence. The result was fatal: Olympiacos playes fast, moved the ball quickly from one player to another and found the gaps such a defence creates. That was the beginning of a long garbage time.

* Olympiacos´defence was so efficient, Baskonia finished the first half with poor 5 assists and 3 turnovers. At the end of the game it was even worse - 10 assists and 11 turnovers.

* The greek defence is not just aggressive and athletic, but also very smart. That is a lethal combination, so no wonder their last 6 out of 8 opponents could not score more than 70 points. When you already find a crack in their defence, someone in red immediately makes a smart foul. No easy baskets allowed.

* In the second half Baskonia returned to a man-on-man defence, and Olympiacos frantic pace was slowed down. The greeks were running to fast breaks, making 23 quick points. When one team is making easy fast points and the other is struggeling for each and every basket, there could not be a close game.

#Euroleague #Olympiacos #Baskonia