May 20, 2013
Regular Season Game 4 - November 13, 2008 CET: 20:45 Local time: 21:45 - PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP STADIUM
Olympiacos 84 - 65 Maccabi Electra

Records

Ave.   Ave.
0-0 Final Four 0-0
0-0 Playoffs 0-0
0-0 Top 16 0-0
2-1 Regular Season 2-1
2-1 Overall 2-1

Referees

Crew Chief
ARTEAGA, JUAN CARLOS, Spain
Referee
SAHIN, TOLGA, Italy
Umpire
GARCIA GONZALEZ, JUAN CARLOS, Spain

Team Stats

Ave.   Ave.
80.7 Points 83.7
37.3 Rebounds 33.3
8.3 O. Rebounds 9.0
29.0 D. Rebounds 24.3
14.0 Assists 16.0
6.0 Steals 7.0
3.3 Blocks 2.0
14.7 Turnovers 13.0
57.6 % 2PT 58.5 %
37.1 % 3PT 34.2 %
68.9 % FT 74.0 %
94.0 Index 92.0
Team Stats - Olympiacos
Team Stats - Maccabi Electra

Player Stats

Ave.   Ave.
14.0 / Bourousis Points 19.0 / Fischer
8.0 / Bourousis Rebounds 7.0 / Fischer
1.7 / Bourousis OR 1.7 / WILLIAMS, JASON
6.3 / Bourousis DR 5.3 / Fischer
5.0 / Papaloukas Assists 5.0 / ARROYO, CARLOS
1.0 / CHILDRESS, JOSH Steals 1.3 / ARROYO, CARLOS
1.3 / CHILDRESS, JOSH Blocks 1.0 / Fischer
3.0 / CHILDRESS, JOSH Turnovers 2.0 / BROWN, MARCUS
69.2 % / Papaloukas 2PT 100.0 % / CASSPI, OMRI
100.0 % / Printezis 3PT 50.0 % / CASSPI, OMRI
100.0 % / HALPERIN, YOTAM FT 100.0 % / SIMMONS, CHESTER
20.3 / Bourousis Index 25.0 / Fischer
Team Roster - Olympiacos
Team Roster - Maccabi Electra

THE TAKE

A much-anticipated matchup between two old rivals takes place near Athens on Thursday when Olympiacos Piraeus hosts Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv at the Peace and Friendship Stadium. This game takes on new meaning when looking at the Reds’ lineup, which now includes two of Maccabi’s biggest stars in recent years, center Nikola Vujcic and guard Yotam Halperin. Both those two are only a small part of the makeover the Olympiacos underwent this summer to prepare for an assault on the Euroleague crown. And so far the results have been positive with a 2-1 record after suffering a loss at Cibona last week. Maccabi has also retooled and like every season, has its eyes on the Final Four. And just like Olympiacos, it has started out 2-1 with a loss at Cibona. Now the teams will go head-to-head knowing that only the winner will have a winning record when the night is done. The new-look Maccabi led by point guard Carlos Arroyo has the same high-scoring characteristics as its predecessors with the team second in the league in scoring (83.7 ppg.) and tied for first in assists (16 apg.). Olympiacos has also been offensive minded and ranks among the top four clubs in points (80.7 ppg.), rebounds (37.7 rpg.) and assists (14 apg.). Arroyo is joined by Marcus Brown, Tal Burstein and Tre Simmons in an athletic backcourt that can handle the ball, score and play defense. Olympiacos has an impressive collection of perimeter players as well with Halperin, Theo Papaloukas, Lynn Greer and Milos Teodosic. In addition to Halperin and Burstein being former teammates, Brown and Papaloukas reached two Final Fours together with CSKA Moscow. Josh Childress has fit in nicely at small forward for the hosts, but he will try to stay ahead of Maccabi’s Jason Williams and Omri Casspi this week. In the paint, Vujcic anchors a frontline that boasts Ioannis Bourousis, Zoran Erceg and Georgios Printezis. Maccabi will look to three of Vujcic’s former partners, Yaniv Green, Esteban Batista and Lior Eliyahu, to try and contain the big man, though ultimately it could be newcomer D’Or Fischer – one of the most efficient players in the league with 19 points per game on 80% shooting so far – that gets the nod from head coach Efy Birenboim. These teams know each other exceptionally well, which adds spice to a game that anyway would be quite attractive. The amount of stars on these squads and the way they attack the baskets means that this game could be an extremely entertaining battle as well as a turning point for one side in Group A.

GAME NOTES

Olympiacos
  • Maccabi hosted Olympiacos for a special pre-season game, to honor Nikola Vujcic. Olympiacos won only after an over-time.
  • Head coach Panagiotis Giannakis's first game as a coach in the Euroleague was last season against Maccabi. It was the opening game of the Top 16 and Maccabi won 67-75 in Piraeus. Yotam Halperin, now with Olympiacos, led Maccabi with 16 points.
  • Guard Lynn Greer had two of his best performances of the season last year against Maccabi. In the first game he had 26 points and an index of 31 and in Tel Aviv he scored 27 and had an index rating of 37. In both games he won the weekly MVP award.
  • One of Nikola Vujcic's best games in the Euroleague was against Olympiacos in Game 1 of the Euroleague Quarterfinal Playoffs in 2006. He scored 23 points with only 4 missed shots in addition to 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks and 9 fouls drawn to total an index rating of 38.
  • Guard Yotam Halperin needs just 4 more steals to reach 100 for his Euroleague Basketball career.
  • Big man Sofoklis Schortianitis recorded his Euroleague debut against Maccabi in Week 2 of the 2005-06 season. He excelled with 13 points and an index rating of 22 as Olympiacos beat the then-Euroleague champs 83-78.
Maccabi Electra
  • Last season Marcus Brown, then with Zalgiris, played four times against Olympiacos. He averaged 14.5 points in those meetings, but only won one of them.
  • Brown will face former teammate Theo Papaloukas. The two played together at CSKA Moscow between 2003 and 2005, helping the club win two Russian League championships and reach two Euroleague Final Fours. The first of those Final Fours was in Tel Aviv, where CSKA lost to Maccabi in the semifinals.
  • Swingman Tal Burstein enters his team’s game at Olympiacos needing only 2 more assists to reach 250 for his Euroleague Basketball career. He is also just 4 three-pointers shy of 100.
  • Derrick Sharp's Euroleague career-high in minutes played was registered against Olympiacos on April 6, 2006 in Game 2 of the Quarterfinal Playoffs. Sharp spent 36 minutes on the floor, during which he scored 11 points. Olympiacos won that game 76-70, but Maccabi won the series 2-1 and advanced to the Final Four in Prague.
  • Guard Dror Hagag played in the Euroleague for the first time in the 2005-06 season with Greek club AEK Athens. He was a teammate of current Olympiacos players Ioannis Bourousis and Mikhalis Pelekanos on that team.
  • Forward Lior Eliyahu has played in 43 Euroleague games for Maccabi in the past two-and-a-half seasons, but has never played against Olympiacos.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Euroleague.net

Quotes Head Coaches

GIANNAKIS, PANAGIOTIS
Olympiacos
“We have learned to respect all opponents and this is what everybody in Olympiacos has in mind. Maccabi Tel Aviv is a team with great experience and tradition in the Euroleague, a team that always competes for the win. We have to stay alert and when you accomplish such a thing, the possibilities of lossing are reduced. Our fans are expected to fill the gym like they did on the night we hosted Unicaja Malaga and I am sure they will help us very much. The atmosphere in that game and their patience were the best thing they could do and they have to continue with the same attitude.”
BIRENBOIM, EFY
Maccabi Electra
"Olympiacos is a very good team. We want to have a safe trip in and out and in between get another win. The fact that we played them in the preseason has no effect on this game, other than players on both sides know each other already. Each team has a different style of game, but although many times whoever controls the tempo is also the one to win, it doesn't mean it happens every time, and we'll have to wait and see about this one."

Players

VUJCIC, NIKOLA
Olympiacos
“We are facing Maccabi Tel Aviv in a totally different game than the friendly one we played early October. This time there is no emotional charge, but the necessity for the win from both sides. We have to control the rhythm of the game and not allow Maccabi to play their game, which means scoring more than 80 points. They play fast and they shoot early in the 24 seconds. On the other hand, we have to play our game knowing that our recent loss in Croatia doesn't mean anything by itself, while a possible win over Maccabi wouldn't mean the accomplishment of our goal, which is the first place in our group. What we have to keep in mind is not to lose a single game at home.”
GREEN, YANIV
Maccabi Electra
"It will be special to play against Nikola and Yotam. It happened already once in the preseason, but it will take longer than one game to get used to it. We travel to Greece with a two-win streak in the Euroleague, and we won our games in the domestic league as well, so we come with good momentum. Their loss in Zagreb made them more alert I guess, so it will be an even more difficult task to beat them, but Maccabi goes to every game, everywhere on the planet, with the goal to win. This one isn't any different."
Ioannis Bourousis - OlympiacosOlympiacos bounced back from its first loss of the season by slapping Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv 84-65 at the Peace and Friendship Stadium on Thursday. Lynn Greer scored 21 for his best offensive output since burning Maccabi for 27 last season to lead the Reds. The win saw Olympiacos improve to 3-1, the same as Cibona, which defeated it in Croatia last week. Maccabi is now tied for third place with Unicaja at 2-2. The visitors were without start point guard Carlos Arroyo, who was sidelined with back pain. Maccabi nevertheless started strong and led 13-23 at one point in the first quarter, but the Reds soon regained control and without anyone to effectively run the offense, Maccabi managed just 5 second-period points as Olympiacos took a 34-29 halftime lead. It grew to 19 in the third and although the visitors never quit, they simply couldn’t match Olympiacos strength as the Reds cruised to a well-earned win. Nikola Vucic added 14 points, 3 assists and 3 steals against his former club, while Panos Vasilopoulos also netted 14 and Ioannis Bourousis posted 12 points and 9 rebounds. Omri Casspi paced Maccabi with 16 points in 18 minutes and Esteban Batista added 10 in defeat.

Both teams feed the ball inside to start the game. Maccabi started strong thanks to baskets from the paint by Tre Simmons, Lior Eliyahu and D’Or Fischer and took an early 2-6 advantage. Olympiacos answered back in the same way; Sofoklis Schortsianitis and Georgios Printezis bore offensive responsibility near the basket, but it was only when Josh Childress connected from behind the arc for his first Euroleague triple that Olympiacos sailed ahead to 7-6. Maccabi used some zone defense to keep the ball away from Schortsianitis, but the real good news for the guests came when the Reds' center had to go to the bench due to his third personal foul. Marcus Brown nailed a three-pointer for Maccabi to make it 9-13. It was only the beginning for a visitors' great run; Simmons, Fischer and Brown added consecutive baskets for an 8-0 streak and a double-digit difference, 13-23. Bourousis came in off the bench to score and Theo Papaloukas beat the first-quarter buzzer to get the Reds within 17-24.

Marcus Brown - Maccabi ElectraBoth defenses strengthened as neither the hosts nor the guests managed to score in the first two-and-a-half minutes of the second period. Bourousis broke the silence from three-point range and Papaloukas brought the Reds even closer at 22-24. Maccabi needed more than four minutes to score, but the incredible dunk by Jason Williams was the game's highlight. Vujcic connected twice in the row to tie it at 26-26 and Greer made a jumper to put Olympiacos ahead 28-26. The home team kept rolling with Bourousis and Greer for a 34-29 advantage before the teams left the court for halftime.

Maccabi returned to the floor with its main concern being to create opportunities to score after being held to only 5 points in the previous period. Simmons chipped in a triple to answer back to points from Greer and Vujcic. Greer fired in one from downtown and Bourousis dunked for a 43-32 lead for the hosts. Maccabi was having trouble to set up its offense. As a result, the difference kept increasing with Vasilopoulos finding an easy layup and an off-the-glass three-pointer to make it 50-32.Another triple by Vasilopoulos later on made it 55-36 for the game's largest deficit. But, Maccabi was not ready to surrender. The visitors used some free throws and baskets by Casspi to run off 10 straight points and get within 55-46 after 30 minutes.

Batista scored to make it 55-48 early in the fourth quarter before Papaloukas put an end to Maccabi’s run. Greer nailed a three-pointer, but Batista connected again in the paint. Casspi became the go-to-guy for Maccabi, while Greer had stepped up for Olympiacos. The latter added another triple and then drove to make it 69-54. Maccabi got back-to-back three-pointers by Williams and Casspi to immediately get to 70-60 with less than four minutes remaining. But Vujcic and Vasilopoulos added points to increase the Reds’ lead to 15 and there was no time left for the guests to react.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Stelios Kyriakoglou, Athens
Referees: ARTEAGA, JUAN CARLOS (ESP), SAHIN, TOLGA (ITA), GARCIA GONZALEZ, JUAN CARLOS (ESP)
Attendance: 9500
By Quarter1234
Olympiacos17172129
Maccabi Electra2451719
End of Quarter1234
Olympiacos17345584
Maccabi Electra24294665
Head coach: GIANNAKIS, PANAGIOTIS
Olympiacos
# Player Min Pts 2FG
M-A
 3FG
M-A
 FT
M-A
 Rebounds As St To Bl Fouls PIR
O D T Fv Ag Cm Rv
4 PAPALOUKAS, THEODOROS 22:48 9 3/5 1/3     4 4 5 1 2     2 2 13
5 PELEKANOS, MICHALIS 1:16                              
6 CHILDRESS, JOSH 23:03 4 0/4 1/2 1/2 2 3 5     5 1   2 1 -2
7 VUJCIC, NIKOLA 25:56 14 6/9   2/2 1 3 4 3 3 4 1     1 19
9 BOUROUSIS, IOANNIS 23:49 12 4/7 1/3 1/2 2 7 9   1 2     2 6 18
10 HALPERIN, YOTAM 13:56 2 1/3 0/1     1 1     1     1 1 -1
11 GREER, LYNN 27:58 21 2/4 4/6 5/6 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 3 2 20
13 VASILOPOULOS, PANAGIOTIS 23:04 14 1/2 4/6   2 3 5 2 2 1     2   17
16 PRINTEZIS, GEORGIOS 12:35 6 3/8   0/1   1 1 1       2   1 1
17 ERCEG, ZORAN 6:24                         1   -1
18 TEODOSIC, MILOS 14:03               2 3       2 1 4
21 SCHORTSANITIS, SOFOKLIS 5:08 2 1/2               2     3   -4
Team             2 2               2
Totals 200:00 84 21/44 11/21 9/13 8 25 33 15 12 18 3 3 18 15 86
47.7% 52.4% 69.2%
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Head coach: BIRENBOIM, EFY
Maccabi Electra
# Player Min Pts 2FG
M-A
 3FG
M-A
 FT
M-A
 Rebounds As St To Bl Fouls PIR
O D T Fv Ag Cm Rv
5 BROWN, MARCUS 25:19 7 2/3 1/1   1   1 1   1     2 1 6
6 SHARP, DERRICK 11:49     0/1             1         -2
7 ARROYO, CARLOS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8 ELIYAHU, LIOR 17:14 9 4/7   1/2 1 3 4 1 1 2       3 12
9 GREEN, YANIV DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
10 BURSTEIN, TAL 24:12   0/3 0/1     3 3 4   5     4 2 -4
11 SIMMONS, TRE 20:28 8 2/3 1/4 1/2 1 2 3   2 2   1 2 1 4
12 WILLIAMS, JASON 21:15 7 2/5 1/1   2 1 3   1 5     4 1  
13 CASSPI, OMRI 18:16 16 4/7 2/4 2/4 2 3 5   2 2 1 1 2 4 16
14 HAGAG, DROR 16:48 2 0/2   2/2   1 1   2 3   1   1  
15 BATISTA, ESTEBAN 17:43 10 3/5   4/4 1 2 3     2 1   1 3 12
21 FISCHER, D'OR 26:56 6 2/7   2/2 1 5 6 1     1     2 11
Team             1 1           1    
Totals 200:00 65 19/42 5/12 12/16 9 21 30 7 8 23 3 3 16 18 55
45.2% 41.7% 75%
This game is not yet played

Head Coaches

GIANNAKIS, PANAGIOTIS
Olympiacos
"This was a good game for us, especially against a team that has always been dangerous. We put some early pressure on Maccabi, but they found the solutions. In the third quarter, we managed to build a difference and hold it till the end, despite some bad moments we had. As far as our performance in the beginning of the game, we wanted to press Maccabi in order to make it run out of energy. We don’t care about the score after one quarter, but after 40 minutes."
BIRENBOIM, EFY
Maccabi Electra
"We committed too many turnovers, especially in the second and third quarters. We had a specific plan for this game, but things changed when Arroyo got injured. When Olympiacos's players found their confidence, they got control of the tempo. There are, though, some positive things of this game, but I prefer to keep them to myself. At the end of the day, they were playing at home and we are missing Arroyo…"

Players

VUJCIC, NIKOLA
Olympiacos
"This game was special for me and great for Olympiacos. We faced some ups and downs during the games, but that’s normal as we are still in the process of improving as a team. Maccabi started the game strong, but we showed character, improved our defense and sailed in front. That’s a good thing. We fought for every possession. We didn’t expect Maccabi to play zone defense for so much time in the game and it took us time to adjust. It is important that we have a string of great players ready to deliver in any case."
SIMMONS, TRE
Maccabi Electra
"We started the game well, but we soon lost our concentration. We allowed Olympiacos some easy baskets and made some bad decisions on the offensive end, especially in the second quarter. We knew that this was going to be a difficult game. Olympiacos holds a really deep roster and every player who comes in off the bench can hurt you. Anyway, we should keep up working hard to improve as a team."
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