With a seminal defensive performance that left Sarunas Jasikevicius no room to maneuver, Olympiacos turned Telekom Center Athens into SEF and booked a spot for the big final on Sunday.

The Olympiacos of Giorgos Bartzokas was well studied, completely focused and ready for the “exams” of the season.

On Friday night (5/22), in the first semifinal of the Final Four, the Piraeus team flattened title holder Fenerbahce 79-61, and solemnly won the ticket to Sunday’s final (24/5 at 21:00), where they will compete for the prestigious trophy against the winner of the Spanish Civil War (Real Madrid vs Valencia).

In the midst of a fantastic atmosphere created by 14.000 Olympiacos fans at the Telekom Center in Athens, the “reds” showed energy, played exemplary defense and had different protagonists in each quarter:

  • 1st Period: Tyler Dorsey came in hot and set the initial tone for the offense.
  • Second Period: Alec Peters took the baton, consistently executing Fener’s German defense.
  • 3rd Period: Sasha Vezenkov stepped up, essentially cleaning up the win with personal baskets.

The big win for Giorgos Bartzokas, aside from qualifying, was roster management. He used all 12 players at his disposal, distributed the playing time perfectly and kept his team fresh, without straining any of his key weapons ahead of the final.

On the other hand, Fenerbahce appeared below expectations and were trapped by the red and white vice. The Turks’ perimeter execution was poor and their creation was minimal, and as a result the only ones rescued from the wreckage of Sarunas Jasikevicius were Talen Horton-Tucker and Tarik Bieberovic.

Game progression

With their classic five (Walkap, Dorsey, Papanikolaou, Vezenkov, Milutinov), Olympiacos opened the game, which saw Dorsey do things and wonders on both defense and offense to make it 12-0 at 7 minutes. The 18-12 lead in the quarter kind of did him an injustice, but Bartzokas’ rotation kept the energy levels very high early in the second.

Peters was the player who made the difference, he also made the score 26-12 at 13 minutes, he also made the score 28-12 at 15 minutes, that was the reason why Olympiacos looked like a ship sailing in calm waters. But still, Fenerbahce held on. Melli cut the deficit to nine (33-24) just before halftime and in this bad 20 minutes, the Turks had somehow “survived”.

Dorsey – Vezenkov entered the second half with amazing momentum, 42-24 at 22′ led to a timeout by Yasikevicius who wanted to cut this 9-0 lead. Not only did he cut it, but he turned 44-24 into 44-34 before Vezenkov scored four straight to make it +14 and keep the Piraeus team at bay. Fournier and Vezenkov each hit a 3-pointer to make it 54-39 at 29 minutes and everything was working to perfection for the Piraeus team.

The Turkish counterattack came early in the fourth quarter. An 0-8 run led to a 56-49 lead at 32 minutes, with Bartzokas calling a timeout and Milutinov’s free throws resulting in a +9 lead. Peters made it 63-52 with a beautiful read and finish near the basket, and soon after made a 3-pointer for a +14 that decided the game, definitively and irrevocably, in an unprecedented celebration.

The Referees: Radovic, Peruga, Nedovic

The DETAILS: 18-12, 33-24, 56-41, 79-61

Olympiacos (Bartzokas): Walkup 2 (5 rebounds, 5 assists), Ward 10 (3/6 2-pointers, 1/2 3-pointers, 1/2 free throws, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, Vezenkov 16 (5/9 2-pointers, 2/4 3-pointers, 5 rebounds), Papanikolaou, Dorsey 15 (2/5 2-pointers, 2/6 3-pointers, 5/6 free throws), Peters 17 (4/4 2-pointers, 3/3 3-pointers), Milutinov 6 (13 rebounds), Joseph, Hall, McCisick 1, Jones 2, Fournier 10 (0/3 2-pointers, 3/9 3-pointers, 1/2 free throws, 4 rebounds, 4 assists)

FENERBACHTSE (Jasikevicius): Baldwin 10 (4/7 2-pointers, 0/3 3-pointers, 2/4 free throws, 5 rebounds, 6 assists), Mellie 7 (2/3 2-pointers, 1/5 3-pointers, 4 rebounds, 2 assists), Horton-Tucker 16 (3/4 2-pointers, 1/7 3-pointers, 7/8 free throws, 7 rebounds, 3 assists), De Colo 6 (2), Biberovic 17 (2/3 2-pointers, 4/9 3-pointers, 1/1 shooting, 6 rebounds), Bitim, Jantunen (0/6 shooting), Hall, Silva 2, Colson, Birch 3 (4 rebounds)

Olympiacos team stats: 17/32 2-pointers, 11/27 3-pointers, 12/20 free throws, 43 rebounds (36 defensive – 7 offensive), 16 assists, 3 steals, 9 turnovers, 19 fouls

Fenerbahce’s team stats: 13/26 2-pointers, 8/36 3-pointers, 11/15 free throws, 34 rebounds (26 defensive – 8 offensive), 14 assists, 5 steals, 3 blocks, 9 turnovers, 21 fouls

.