Maccabi Electra vs. Olympiacos - ShowGame - Welcome to EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL

May 25, 2013

Regular Season Game 9 - January 08, 2009 CET: 20:00 Local time: 21:00 - NOKIA ARENA

Maccabi Electra 96 - 83 Olympiacos

REGULAR SEASON, GAME 9

GROUP A

GROUP B

GROUP C

GROUP D

Records

Ave.		Ave.
0-0	Final Four	0-0
0-0	Playoffs	0-0
0-0	Top 16	0-0
5-3	Regular Season	6-2
5-3	Overall	6-2

Referees

Crew Chief

LAMONICA, LUIGI, Italy

Referee

BELOSEVIC, ILIJA, Serbia

Umpire

PEREZ PIZARRO, EMILIO, Spain

Team Stats

Ave.		Ave.
81.3	Points	83.0
35.4	Rebounds	36.3
8.9	O. Rebounds	9.8
26.5	D. Rebounds	26.5
14.0	Assists	16.4
7.8	Steals	8.3
1.8	Blocks	3.0
14.1	Turnovers	15.5
55.3 %	2PT	57.3 %
36.5 %	3PT	40.0 %
75.3 %	FT	67.8 %
88.3	Index	95.6

Team Stats - Maccabi Electra

Team Stats - Olympiacos

Player Stats

Ave.		Ave.
14.9 / Eliyahu	Points	13.1 / Greer
7.1 / Eliyahu	Rebounds	7.5 / Bourousis
1.8 / Eliyahu	OR	2.1 / Bourousis
5.4 / Eliyahu	DR	5.4 / Bourousis
4.4 / ARROYO, CARLOS	Assists	5.1 / Papaloukas
1.0 / BURSTEIN, TAL	Steals	1.4 / Greer
0.7 / Fischer	Blocks	0.8 / CHILDRESS, JOSH
2.4 / Eliyahu	Turnovers	2.5 / CHILDRESS, JOSH
71.9 % / Fischer	2PT	79.3 % / Papaloukas
50.0 % / BROWN, MARCUS	3PT	75.0 % / Printezis
100.0 % / HAGAG, DROR	FT	100.0 % / Teodosic
19.4 / Eliyahu	Index	16.4 / Bourousis

Team Roster - Maccabi Electra

Team Roster - Olympiacos

THE TAKE

Two budding rivals will clash in an interesting game in Israel on Thursday when Maccabi Electra hosts Olympiacos at Tel Aviv’s Nokia Arena. The game will feature the return of former Maccabi stars Nikola Vujcic and Yotam Halperin to play an official game in Tel Aviv for the first time since the pair left in the summer. The two teams have both qualifies for the Top 16 already, but with one win separating four teams in the top four spots in Group A, every win matters as the teams jockey for position ahead of the Top 16 draw. Olympiacos could potentially seal first place in the group if it beats Maccabi and Cibona defeats Unicaja. Maccabi must beat Olympiacos and preferably by a large margin to have any realistic chance of winning the group. The Reds manhandled Maccabi 84-65 behind 21 points from Lynn Greer when they met in November in Greece. However Maccabi will have a different look this time around. Head coach Pini Gershon took the reins of the club after that loss and has it playing like the Maccabi of old lately. Furthermore, Maccabi’s star point guard Carlos Arroyo was a last-minute scratch that night due to back problems, but is set to lead the club this time. Another advantage for the hosts is that Gershon, who spent a season-and-a-half as the Reds’ head coach, has coached no less than eight Olympiacos players and will be extremely prepared for the showdown. Meanwhile Olympiacos head coach Panagiotis Giannakis, who took over from Gershon midway through last season, will no doubt have his team ready as it looks to win the group. The game features a number of interesting matchups, starting with Arroyo and Greer at point guard or Halperin against former teammate Tal Burstein and Marcus Brown at shooting guard. Theo Papaloukas as always plays major minutes off the bench for the Reds. Maccabi will turn to Tre Simmons, Jason Williams and Omri Casspi to deal with Josh Childress. The battle inside will see Vujcic team with Ioannis Bourousis, Georgios Printezis and Zoran Erceg, among others, against December MVP Lior Eliyahu, D’Or Fischer and Yaniv Green, with Marcus Fizer primed to make his return after a year on the sidelines if needed. Emotions will be high with the return of two of Maccabi fans favorites in different colors and the newcomers in yellow-and-blue will be eager to prove themselves in what promises to be an exciting 40 minutes of basketball. GAME NOTES Maccabi Electra Forward Lior Eliyahu was named Euroleague Basketball’s MVP for December. Eliyahu had arguably the best stretch of his young career in December, averaging 20.3 points, 12.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists in three games. Eliyahu has produced double doubles in three consecutive games after having just three in his first 45 Euroleague appearances. Maccabi is 5-1 in games in which Eliyahu has recorded double doubles and 3-0 at home. Big man Marcus Fizer could make his return to action this week against Olympiacos. It would be Fizer’s first official game in nearly a year since suffering a torn meniscus in his right knee in the Top 16 opener against Olympiacos last February. Guard Tal Burstein is closing in on 1,000 points for his Euroleague Basketball career. He enters this week’s game against Olympiacos with 985 points in 132 career games. He also needs just 2 more three-pointers to reach 100 for his Euroleague career. Head coach Pini Gershon will be facing a number of his former charges for the first time. Gershon coached Olympiacos for a season-and-a-half from the summer of 2006 through the end of the regular season last year. Among the current Olympiacos players he coached are Lynn Greer, Ioannis Bourousis, Pangiotis Vasilopoulos, Milos Teodosic, Georgios Printezis and Sofoklis Schortsanitis. Gershon also coached Nikola Vujcic and Yotam Halperin to Euroleague crowns at Maccabi. He was replaced at Olympiacos by current head coach Panagiotis Giannakis. Guard Marcus Brown will face former teammate Theo Papaloukas this week. 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. 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 Omri Casspi scored a Euroleague career-high 19 points against Le Mans in his last outing before the winter break. Olympiacos Center Nikola Vujcic will return to Tel Aviv for an official game for the first time since leaving Maccabi over the summer. Vujcic spent the past six seasons at Maccabi, winning two Euroleague crowns, reaching two more Euroleague finals and amassing five Israeli championships and four Israeli Cups. He did face Maccabi with Olympiacos in a preseason exhibition at Nokia Arena. Vujcic is coming off his best game in an Olympiacos uniform with 12 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocked shots against Cibona in the last Euroleague game before the winter break. He also crossed the career 2,000-point barrier in that game. Vujcic needs 1 more rebound to match Denis Marconato for second place on the Euroleague Basketball career rebounding charts. Vujcic enters the game with 881 career rebounds. Guard Yotam Halperin will face his boyhood club this week. Halperin played six seasons with Maccabi since joining the senior squad in 2001 and helped it win two Euroleague crowns, five Israeli championships and four Israeli Cups. Guard Lynn Greer has simply dominated Maccabi Tel Aviv in three career appearances against the Israeli powerhouse. Greer has averaged 24.7 points on 55.5% three-point shooting, 4.3 assists and 2 steals in those games. He was also twice named weekly MVP last season after playing Maccabi. 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. Wednesday, January 07, 2009 Euroleague.net

Two budding rivals will clash in an interesting game in Israel on Thursday when Maccabi Electra hosts Olympiacos at Tel Aviv’s Nokia Arena. The game will feature the return of former Maccabi stars Nikola Vujcic and Yotam Halperin to play an official game in Tel Aviv for the first time since the pair left in the summer. The two teams have both qualifies for the Top 16 already, but with one win separating four teams in the top four spots in Group A, every win matters as the teams jockey for position ahead of the Top 16 draw. Olympiacos could potentially seal first place in the group if it beats Maccabi and Cibona defeats Unicaja. Maccabi must beat Olympiacos and preferably by a large margin to have any realistic chance of winning the group. The Reds manhandled Maccabi 84-65 behind 21 points from Lynn Greer when they met in November in Greece. However Maccabi will have a different look this time around. Head coach Pini Gershon took the reins of the club after that loss and has it playing like the Maccabi of old lately. Furthermore, Maccabi’s star point guard Carlos Arroyo was a last-minute scratch that night due to back problems, but is set to lead the club this time. Another advantage for the hosts is that Gershon, who spent a season-and-a-half as the Reds’ head coach, has coached no less than eight Olympiacos players and will be extremely prepared for the showdown. Meanwhile Olympiacos head coach Panagiotis Giannakis, who took over from Gershon midway through last season, will no doubt have his team ready as it looks to win the group. The game features a number of interesting matchups, starting with Arroyo and Greer at point guard or Halperin against former teammate Tal Burstein and Marcus Brown at shooting guard. Theo Papaloukas as always plays major minutes off the bench for the Reds. Maccabi will turn to Tre Simmons, Jason Williams and Omri Casspi to deal with Josh Childress. The battle inside will see Vujcic team with Ioannis Bourousis, Georgios Printezis and Zoran Erceg, among others, against December MVP Lior Eliyahu, D’Or Fischer and Yaniv Green, with Marcus Fizer primed to make his return after a year on the sidelines if needed. Emotions will be high with the return of two of Maccabi fans favorites in different colors and the newcomers in yellow-and-blue will be eager to prove themselves in what promises to be an exciting 40 minutes of basketball.

GAME NOTES

Maccabi Electra

Forward Lior Eliyahu was named Euroleague Basketball’s MVP for December. Eliyahu had arguably the best stretch of his young career in December, averaging 20.3 points, 12.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists in three games.
Eliyahu has produced double doubles in three consecutive games after having just three in his first 45 Euroleague appearances. Maccabi is 5-1 in games in which Eliyahu has recorded double doubles and 3-0 at home.
Big man Marcus Fizer could make his return to action this week against Olympiacos. It would be Fizer’s first official game in nearly a year since suffering a torn meniscus in his right knee in the Top 16 opener against Olympiacos last February.
Guard Tal Burstein is closing in on 1,000 points for his Euroleague Basketball career. He enters this week’s game against Olympiacos with 985 points in 132 career games. He also needs just 2 more three-pointers to reach 100 for his Euroleague career.
Head coach Pini Gershon will be facing a number of his former charges for the first time. Gershon coached Olympiacos for a season-and-a-half from the summer of 2006 through the end of the regular season last year. Among the current Olympiacos players he coached are Lynn Greer, Ioannis Bourousis, Pangiotis Vasilopoulos, Milos Teodosic, Georgios Printezis and Sofoklis Schortsanitis. Gershon also coached Nikola Vujcic and Yotam Halperin to Euroleague crowns at Maccabi. He was replaced at Olympiacos by current head coach Panagiotis Giannakis.
Guard Marcus Brown will face former teammate Theo Papaloukas this week. 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.
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 Omri Casspi scored a Euroleague career-high 19 points against Le Mans in his last outing before the winter break.

Olympiacos

Center Nikola Vujcic will return to Tel Aviv for an official game for the first time since leaving Maccabi over the summer. Vujcic spent the past six seasons at Maccabi, winning two Euroleague crowns, reaching two more Euroleague finals and amassing five Israeli championships and four Israeli Cups. He did face Maccabi with Olympiacos in a preseason exhibition at Nokia Arena.
Vujcic is coming off his best game in an Olympiacos uniform with 12 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocked shots against Cibona in the last Euroleague game before the winter break. He also crossed the career 2,000-point barrier in that game.
Vujcic needs 1 more rebound to match Denis Marconato for second place on the Euroleague Basketball career rebounding charts. Vujcic enters the game with 881 career rebounds.
Guard Yotam Halperin will face his boyhood club this week. Halperin played six seasons with Maccabi since joining the senior squad in 2001 and helped it win two Euroleague crowns, five Israeli championships and four Israeli Cups.
Guard Lynn Greer has simply dominated Maccabi Tel Aviv in three career appearances against the Israeli powerhouse. Greer has averaged 24.7 points on 55.5% three-point shooting, 4.3 assists and 2 steals in those games. He was also twice named weekly MVP last season after playing Maccabi.
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.

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Euroleague.net

Quotes Head Coaches

GERSHON, PINI Maccabi Electra "Coaching against my former team, Olympiacos, will be something special, but two minutes after the tip-off it will feel just like any other game. We made it to the Top 16 like we wanted, but now we need to move up the standings to enjoy better chances in the next stage, and it goes through a win this week. It will be a very special night, also because of the return of Marcus Fizer, and obviously to see Nikola Vujcic and Yotam Halperin wearing red on their former home court. I'm sure the atmosphere will be very tense, in a good way. Last season, Olympiacos won in Tel Aviv, and they have beaten Maccabi already this season, but this is the most important game, and we'll need to play very well to get this win."

GERSHON, PINI

Maccabi Electra

"Coaching against my former team, Olympiacos, will be something special, but two minutes after the tip-off it will feel just like any other game. We made it to the Top 16 like we wanted, but now we need to move up the standings to enjoy better chances in the next stage, and it goes through a win this week. It will be a very special night, also because of the return of Marcus Fizer, and obviously to see Nikola Vujcic and Yotam Halperin wearing red on their former home court. I'm sure the atmosphere will be very tense, in a good way. Last season, Olympiacos won in Tel Aviv, and they have beaten Maccabi already this season, but this is the most important game, and we'll need to play very well to get this win."

GIANNAKIS, PANAGIOTIS Olympiacos "Few teams can beat Maccabi in Tel Aviv and it doesn't depend on the shape and the roster of the Israelis. This is going to be a really great game, not because it can decide the first place in the group, but because it will put us in a special and difficult process, as we have to play against a strong team on their court and test our character. Our main goal is to implement all those things we are working on in practice and to have the best possible performance. The most important thing in such a situation is to try for the victory through the right process."

GIANNAKIS, PANAGIOTIS

Olympiacos

"Few teams can beat Maccabi in Tel Aviv and it doesn't depend on the shape and the roster of the Israelis. This is going to be a really great game, not because it can decide the first place in the group, but because it will put us in a special and difficult process, as we have to play against a strong team on their court and test our character. Our main goal is to implement all those things we are working on in practice and to have the best possible performance. The most important thing in such a situation is to try for the victory through the right process."

Players

FIZER, MARCUS Maccabi Electra "We respect every club, but certainly won't grovel against anyone. Last season, people didn't give us a chance before many games, and we still won them, so we can do this again. The fact that my injury happened when we played in Pireaus oesn't make me hold grudge against Olympiacos, but in a way it's like I'm closing a circle. I worked very hard to recover from this injury, and I hope to bring my game to the court and help Maccabi win this Thursday as well, like we did so many times the past season. I'm eager to play already and be part of the team on court."

FIZER, MARCUS

Maccabi Electra

"We respect every club, but certainly won't grovel against anyone. Last season, people didn't give us a chance before many games, and we still won them, so we can do this again. The fact that my injury happened when we played in Pireaus oesn't make me hold grudge against Olympiacos, but in a way it's like I'm closing a circle. I worked very hard to recover from this injury, and I hope to bring my game to the court and help Maccabi win this Thursday as well, like we did so many times the past season. I'm eager to play already and be part of the team on court."

VUJCIC, NIKOLA Olympiacos "Now Maccabi has Pinhas Gershon on the bench and Marcus Fizer on the court, so they are different than they used to be. Coach Gershon knows how to absorb from the others the pressure and to manage it. So the players are free to relax more and can perform better. We played a friendly game in the preseason and this might help me and my team in order to have a better adjustment to the conditions. When they play at home, Maccabi takes at least a 30-percent advantage compared to the away games. Regarding myself, this is a special game and I have special feelings, but I feel mature enough to manage this kind of situation and try to play my game and help my team."

VUJCIC, NIKOLA

Olympiacos

"Now Maccabi has Pinhas Gershon on the bench and Marcus Fizer on the court, so they are different than they used to be. Coach Gershon knows how to absorb from the others the pressure and to manage it. So the players are free to relax more and can perform better. We played a friendly game in the preseason and this might help me and my team in order to have a better adjustment to the conditions. When they play at home, Maccabi takes at least a 30-percent advantage compared to the away games. Regarding myself, this is a special game and I have special feelings, but I feel mature enough to manage this kind of situation and try to play my game and help my team."

Maccabi Electra led from start to finish to polish off Olympiacos Piraeus on Thursday night at Tel Aviv’s Nokia Arena. The winter break seemed to do head coach Pini Gershon’s charges well as they were in synch offensively with five scoring in double figures. Maccabi improved to 6-3 in Group A – the same record as the Reds – but trails Olympiacos in the standings due to a 19-point loss suffered in Greece in November. However Maccabi could still potentially win the group with a big win in Psain next week against Unicaja. The hosts started strong and took an 8-1 lead and increased it to double figures in the second period before Yotam Halperin's shooting helped the Reds close the gap to 47-45 at halftime. However D’Or Fischer scored 7 – including two dunk-and-fouls – as the hosts opened the second half with an 11-0 charge and Maccabi was never seriously threatened again. Carlos Arroyo paced Maccabi with 20 points and 5 assists, while Lior Eliyahu, who was received his December MVP trophy from club president Shimon Mizrahi before halftime, added 18 points and 8 rebounds. Fischer recorded 15 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocked shots, while Marcus Brown added 15 and Omri Casspi 14. Josh Childress scored 15 to lead the Reds, Halperin netted 14 against his boyhood club, Ioannis Bourousis produced 11 points, 12 rebounds and 4 steals, Theo Papaloukas had 11 points and 5 assists and Milos Teodosic added 10. Maccabi corralled the opening tip and struck first on an Arroyo move. Yaniv Green added a turn-around jumper before Nikola Vujcic scored Olympiacos’s first point from the line. Baskets by Brown and Casspi concluded an 8-1 start before Childress dropped in a three. Georgios Printezis added a basket for the visitors, but Brown’s three made it 13-6. Teodosic buried a three to keep the Reds close, but Brown kept Maccabi cruising. Brown, however, needed to sit after committing his second foul as head coach Pini Gershon started to freshen his team by bringing in Tre Simmons and – for the first time in a year – Marcus Fizer. Olympiacos took advantage as Childress went coast to coast for a layup and Vujcic scored inside to make it 17-15. Fizer answered with his first basket, prompting Olympiacos head coach Panagiotis Giannakis to turn to Papaloukas, Sofoklis Schortsanitis and Bourousis off his bench. The Reds fresh big men both scored a basket, but Simmons hit a three and Tal Burstein penetrated for a score to make it 25-19 after 10 minutes. Derrick Sharp buried a three-pointer from the corner early in the second period to put Maccabi up 8, however Papaloukas answered in form and later went coast to coast for a layup. Maccabi got its fans back in the game when Eliyahu dunked and drew a foul. Papaloukas drew the Reds within 3 only for Arroyo to drill a three and then score on the break to make it 35-27. Halperin and Brown traded threes before a TV timeout allowed both teams a rest. Halperin drilled a second three, but Arroyo and Eliyahu increased the Maccabi lead to 9. And Brown made it 43-33 from the line. Schortsanitis and Bourousis scored on consecutive possessions before Papaloukas dished behind the back to Childress for a fast break slam that narrowed the gap to 4 and caused Maccabi to take a timeout. Eliyahu extended the hosts’ advantage with a three-point play, but another Halperin triple and a Bourousis fast break layup at the buzzer brought Olympiacos within 47-45 at halftime. Brown tried to feed Fischer for an alley-oop as the second half got underway and it resulted in a drawn foul and 2 made free throws for the latter. Then Papaloukas was whistled for an unsportsmanlike foul on Casspi on the break. Soon after Fischer produced a slam-plus-foul on a dish from Eliyahu and then Arroyo set up the big man for another dunk and foul for an 11-0 run to start the half. Papaloukas made a jumper to stop the bleeding, but an Arroyo three-pointer made it 61-47. Childress countered with a pretty slam, but Eliyahu kept Maccabi in control. Bourousos created a pretty slam off a give-and-go move with Printezis and Childress added a bucket to trim the gap to 11, but Fischer’s slam on the offensive glass and an Eliyahu three-point play restored the big lead and Brown took it to 72-56 with some free throws. Childress and Halperin continued to chip away at the big deficit, but Maccabi always seemed to have an answer. Zoran Erceg’s slam made it 74-61 with one period to play. Teodosic with a basket and 2 free throws lessened the gap to single digits early in the second period and Vujcic added a score, but Casspi corrected his own miss and scored again on a feed from Fischer to go back up 13. Halperin made a pair of free throws, however Eliyahu struck twice to make it 84-69. After an Olympiacos timeout, Teodosic fired in a three, but was unable to spark his teammates towards the big run needed. Maccabi continued to push, knowing that erasing the 19-point loss it suffered to the Reds in Greece could come in handy in tiebreakers, but the visitors didn’t throw in the towel. Lynn Greer narrowed the gap to 10 with a jumper and Maccabi players missed a few free throws that prevented a shot at a 19-point win, but that didn’t stop the fans from celebrating a fine home win. Thursday, January 08, 2009 Euroleague.net

Maccabi Electra led from start to finish to polish off Olympiacos Piraeus on Thursday night at Tel Aviv’s Nokia Arena. The winter break seemed to do head coach Pini Gershon’s charges well as they were in synch offensively with five scoring in double figures. Maccabi improved to 6-3 in Group A – the same record as the Reds – but trails Olympiacos in the standings due to a 19-point loss suffered in Greece in November. However Maccabi could still potentially win the group with a big win in Psain next week against Unicaja. The hosts started strong and took an 8-1 lead and increased it to double figures in the second period before Yotam Halperin's shooting helped the Reds close the gap to 47-45 at halftime. However D’Or Fischer scored 7 – including two dunk-and-fouls – as the hosts opened the second half with an 11-0 charge and Maccabi was never seriously threatened again. Carlos Arroyo paced Maccabi with 20 points and 5 assists, while Lior Eliyahu, who was received his December MVP trophy from club president Shimon Mizrahi before halftime, added 18 points and 8 rebounds. Fischer recorded 15 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocked shots, while Marcus Brown added 15 and Omri Casspi 14. Josh Childress scored 15 to lead the Reds, Halperin netted 14 against his boyhood club, Ioannis Bourousis produced 11 points, 12 rebounds and 4 steals, Theo Papaloukas had 11 points and 5 assists and Milos Teodosic added 10.

Maccabi corralled the opening tip and struck first on an Arroyo move. Yaniv Green added a turn-around jumper before Nikola Vujcic scored Olympiacos’s first point from the line. Baskets by Brown and Casspi concluded an 8-1 start before Childress dropped in a three. Georgios Printezis added a basket for the visitors, but Brown’s three made it 13-6. Teodosic buried a three to keep the Reds close, but Brown kept Maccabi cruising. Brown, however, needed to sit after committing his second foul as head coach Pini Gershon started to freshen his team by bringing in Tre Simmons and – for the first time in a year – Marcus Fizer. Olympiacos took advantage as Childress went coast to coast for a layup and Vujcic scored inside to make it 17-15. Fizer answered with his first basket, prompting Olympiacos head coach Panagiotis Giannakis to turn to Papaloukas, Sofoklis Schortsanitis and Bourousis off his bench. The Reds fresh big men both scored a basket, but Simmons hit a three and Tal Burstein penetrated for a score to make it 25-19 after 10 minutes.

Josh Childress - Olympiacos

Derrick Sharp buried a three-pointer from the corner early in the second period to put Maccabi up 8, however Papaloukas answered in form and later went coast to coast for a layup. Maccabi got its fans back in the game when Eliyahu dunked and drew a foul. Papaloukas drew the Reds within 3 only for Arroyo to drill a three and then score on the break to make it 35-27. Halperin and Brown traded threes before a TV timeout allowed both teams a rest. Halperin drilled a second three, but Arroyo and Eliyahu increased the Maccabi lead to 9. And Brown made it 43-33 from the line. Schortsanitis and Bourousis scored on consecutive possessions before Papaloukas dished behind the back to Childress for a fast break slam that narrowed the gap to 4 and caused Maccabi to take a timeout. Eliyahu extended the hosts’ advantage with a three-point play, but another Halperin triple and a Bourousis fast break layup at the buzzer brought Olympiacos within 47-45 at halftime.

Brown tried to feed Fischer for an alley-oop as the second half got underway and it resulted in a drawn foul and 2 made free throws for the latter. Then Papaloukas was whistled for an unsportsmanlike foul on Casspi on the break. Soon after Fischer produced a slam-plus-foul on a dish from Eliyahu and then Arroyo set up the big man for another dunk and foul for an 11-0 run to start the half. Papaloukas made a jumper to stop the bleeding, but an Arroyo three-pointer made it 61-47. Childress countered with a pretty slam, but Eliyahu kept Maccabi in control. Bourousos created a pretty slam off a give-and-go move with Printezis and Childress added a bucket to trim the gap to 11, but Fischer’s slam on the offensive glass and an Eliyahu three-point play restored the big lead and Brown took it to 72-56 with some free throws. Childress and Halperin continued to chip away at the big deficit, but Maccabi always seemed to have an answer. Zoran Erceg’s slam made it 74-61 with one period to play.

Teodosic with a basket and 2 free throws lessened the gap to single digits early in the second period and Vujcic added a score, but Casspi corrected his own miss and scored again on a feed from Fischer to go back up 13. Halperin made a pair of free throws, however Eliyahu struck twice to make it 84-69. After an Olympiacos timeout, Teodosic fired in a three, but was unable to spark his teammates towards the big run needed. Maccabi continued to push, knowing that erasing the 19-point loss it suffered to the Reds in Greece could come in handy in tiebreakers, but the visitors didn’t throw in the towel. Lynn Greer narrowed the gap to 10 with a jumper and Maccabi players missed a few free throws that prevented a shot at a 19-point win, but that didn’t stop the fans from celebrating a fine home win.

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Euroleague.net

Referees: LAMONICA, LUIGI (ITA), BELOSEVIC, ILIJA (SRB), PEREZ PIZARRO, EMILIO (ESP)

Attendance: 11000

By Quarter	1	2	3	4
Maccabi Electra	25	22	27	22
Olympiacos	19	26	16	22

End of Quarter	1	2	3	4
Maccabi Electra	25	47	74	96
Olympiacos	19	45	61	83

Head coach: GERSHON, PINI

Maccabi Electra
#	Player	Min	Pts	2FG M-A	3FG M-A	FT M-A	Rebounds			As	St	To	Bl		Fouls		PIR
#	Player	Min	Pts	2FG M-A	3FG M-A	FT M-A	O	D	T	As	St	To	Fv	Ag	Cm	Rv	PIR
5	BROWN, MARCUS	29:44	15	3/6	2/7	3/4	1	1	2	2	1	1			2	4	12
6	SHARP, DERRICK	6:50	3		1/1										1		2
7	ARROYO, CARLOS	33:06	20	5/9	2/5	4/6	1	4	5	5		2			2	3	20
8	ELIYAHU, LIOR	30:10	18	6/8		6/9	3	5	8	1		1				8	29
9	GREEN, YANIV	10:12	2	1/2			1	2	3	1					4	1	2
10	BURSTEIN, TAL	18:27	4	1/1	0/2	2/2	2	1	3	3		1			3	1	5
11	SIMMONS, TRE	9:21	3	0/1	1/1					1		1			3		-1
12	WILLIAMS, JASON	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
13	CASSPI, OMRI	23:02	14	6/13		2/2	2	2	4	2	1			1	3	4	14
14	HAGAG, DROR	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
15	FIZER, MARCUS	7:39	2	1/2	0/1							2		1	2	1	-4
21	FISCHER, D'OR	31:29	15	4/7		7/10	5	5	10	3	2	1	3		3	6	29
	Team						1	1	2		7						9
	Totals	200:00	96	27/49	6/17	24/33	16	21	37	18	11	9	3	2	23	28	117
				55.1%	35.3%	72.7%

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: GIANNAKIS, PANAGIOTIS

Olympiacos
#	Player	Min	Pts	2FG M-A	3FG M-A	FT M-A	Rebounds			As	St	To	Bl		Fouls		PIR
#	Player	Min	Pts	2FG M-A	3FG M-A	FT M-A	O	D	T	As	St	To	Fv	Ag	Cm	Rv	PIR
4	PAPALOUKAS, THEODOROS	26:11	11	3/3	1/3	2/2		2	2	5		4			4	1	9
5	PELEKANOS, MICHALIS	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6	CHILDRESS, JOSH	30:18	15	5/10	1/2	2/4		5	5	1	2	1			4	3	13
7	VUJCIC, NIKOLA	16:11	5	2/5		1/2	1	2	3	1				1	1	3	6
8	MILOSEVIC, IGOR	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9	BOUROUSIS, IOANNIS	24:23	11	4/6	0/1	3/4	3	9	12	2	4	3	1	1	3	4	23
10	HALPERIN, YOTAM	29:13	14	1/1	3/3	3/5		2	2	2	1					2	19
11	GREER, LYNN	17:14	4	1/2	0/2	2/2						2			3	1	-3
16	PRINTEZIS, GEORGIOS	20:01	6	1/2		4/8	2	2	4	3		2	1		3	4	8
17	ERCEG, ZORAN	10:18	2	1/2	0/1									1	3	1	-3
18	TEODOSIC, MILOS	18:45	10	1/2	2/4	2/2					1				5	2	5
21	SCHORTSANITIS, SOFOKLIS	7:26	5	2/2		1/2						1			2	2	3
	Team										1						1
	Totals	200:00	83	21/35	7/16	20/31	6	22	28	14	9	13	2	3	28	23	81
				60%	43.8%	64.5%

This game is not yet played

Head Coaches

GERSHON, PINI Maccabi Electra "We can play better defense than tonight. Arroyo made only two turnovers against a very good defensive team like Olympiacos and it says a lot. It's a great win for the team, and it was a team win. We used our advantages, and made some easy points. We passed the test. I'm not sure what our grade was, but we passed it...I'm happy for everybody, besides the team, that we won. I think we played an attractive game, and it's great to see that everybody is happy around us now. We want to win in every game, and this is the same story for next week in Malaga."

GERSHON, PINI

Maccabi Electra

"We can play better defense than tonight. Arroyo made only two turnovers against a very good defensive team like Olympiacos and it says a lot. It's a great win for the team, and it was a team win. We used our advantages, and made some easy points. We passed the test. I'm not sure what our grade was, but we passed it...I'm happy for everybody, besides the team, that we won. I think we played an attractive game, and it's great to see that everybody is happy around us now. We want to win in every game, and this is the same story for next week in Malaga."

GIANNAKIS, PANAGIOTIS Olympiacos "If you look at the boxscore you see the difference between the teams. We weren't concentrated on defense. They scored a lot of easy points on fastbreaks and offensive rebounds. For me, basketball is a team game, and the whole team wasn't concentrated. If you are concentrated, you take the rebound, and today we didn't do it. The situation of the regular season will be a good lesson and a good opportunity to learn about yourself. If you are smart, you can learn a lot...We don't care about the results of other teams. The season is long, and it's a question of who's going to be ready at the right time."

GIANNAKIS, PANAGIOTIS

Olympiacos

"If you look at the boxscore you see the difference between the teams. We weren't concentrated on defense. They scored a lot of easy points on fastbreaks and offensive rebounds. For me, basketball is a team game, and the whole team wasn't concentrated. If you are concentrated, you take the rebound, and today we didn't do it. The situation of the regular season will be a good lesson and a good opportunity to learn about yourself. If you are smart, you can learn a lot...We don't care about the results of other teams. The season is long, and it's a question of who's going to be ready at the right time."

Players

ELIYAHU, LIOR Maccabi Electra "We gave a show, especially in the second half, and played very well. Fischer had a great second half in all aspects. He helped us in a lot of ways and everyone who played on the court played good. It's a very important and meaningful game for the future. I'm happy the break didn't hurt us, and now we look to the future."
ARROYO, CARLOS Maccabi Electra "I was focused tonight. We prepared very well for the game, and played better than them tonight. It's a very important step for the team. We have a good team, and a lot of players can score 20 points on a given night. The most important thing is that we'll maintain this level over the long run. We're still working to fix our problems. I think a lot of people see the improvement on both ends of the floor."

ELIYAHU, LIOR

Maccabi Electra

"We gave a show, especially in the second half, and played very well. Fischer had a great second half in all aspects. He helped us in a lot of ways and everyone who played on the court played good. It's a very important and meaningful game for the future. I'm happy the break didn't hurt us, and now we look to the future."

ARROYO, CARLOS

Maccabi Electra

"I was focused tonight. We prepared very well for the game, and played better than them tonight. It's a very important step for the team. We have a good team, and a lot of players can score 20 points on a given night. The most important thing is that we'll maintain this level over the long run. We're still working to fix our problems. I think a lot of people see the improvement on both ends of the floor."

HALPERIN, YOTAM Olympiacos "Maccabi played great, controlled the tempo of the game and did exactly what they wanted to do. We played bad. We need to go back to Athens and see what we did wrong in this game. I wish to congratulate Maccabi for a great game. I love this crowd because they pushed me in good and bad moments in the past. I wish Maccabi the best and hope to see them in the finals."

HALPERIN, YOTAM

Olympiacos

"Maccabi played great, controlled the tempo of the game and did exactly what they wanted to do. We played bad. We need to go back to Athens and see what we did wrong in this game. I wish to congratulate Maccabi for a great game. I love this crowd because they pushed me in good and bad moments in the past. I wish Maccabi the best and hope to see them in the finals."

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