The Reds recorded 26 assists, with all 11 players who stepped on the floor getting on the scoresheet
Olympiacos showed depth and unselfishness in blowout of Virtus
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Regular Season
Round 27 of 34
Group Regular Season
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It’s not news to say that Olympiacos Piraeus boasts one of the deepest rosters in Turkish Airlines EuroLeague this season. Yet, when this depth is at full display on the floor, opponents find it tough to contain the best offense (87.9 PPG) in the competition, and Friday was one of those nights for Virtus Segafredo Bologna.
Olympiacos aces Sasha Vezenkov and Evan Fournier may have not stood out this time, but each of the 11 players who stepped on the court contributed their bit in the 70-92 victory at Virtus Segafredo Arena.
In fact, all 11 players got their names on the scoresheet, with six of them netting in double digits. Vezenkov, Nikola Milutinov, Alec Peters, Fournier and Moustapha Fall scored 12 each, while Kostas Papanikolaou recorded 11 points. No Olympiacos player bar Vezenkov featured for more than 23 minutes, with the starters slightly outscoring the bench 49-43.
“We have a really deep bench,” coach Georgios Bartzokas told EuroLeague TV after the game. “We have quality players in every position. It’s about everyone coming in to fulfil his role, be unselfish and play for the team.”
After an extraordinary first quarter that ended 14-34, Olympiacos took a 29-54 lead into the second half. Virtus bounced back and outscored the guests 25-14 in the third, but the Greeks demonstrated their depth and remained calm to finish it off in the fourth.
“Our team is full of guys who can step up, make big shots, make big plays and get us back going,” Peters told EuroLeague TV. “We had multiple guys make plays at the right time for us to go ahead and win the game.”
No EuroLeague team averages more than Olympiacos’s 20.9 assists per game, with Bartzokas’s side recording as many as 26 dimes at Virtus.
“We had a lot of assists, 26, we had 13 or 14 more rebounds and tried to involve all the players in our offensive game,” Bartzokas noted in the postgame press conference.
Having added Saben Lee to a star-studded roster while awaiting Keenan Evans’s long-awaited return from injury, Olympiacos has set its sights on one prize.
“We want [to win the] EuroLeague,” Fall stressed. “I think it’s pretty obvious [that this is the goal]. There are a lot of teams that compete for that, but I think that we have a good chance this year to be able to be successful.”
Olympiacos may become the first team to clinch a playoff spot with a potential home victory over Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade next week. And the Reds' depth could be key once again as they bid to avenge Round 12’s 78-70 loss at Belgrade Arena.