Regular Season Game 12 - January 17, 2007 CET: 19:45 Local time: 20:45 - PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP STADIUM

Records

Ave.   Ave.
0-0 Final Four 0-0
0-0 Playoffs 0-0
0-0 Top 16 0-0
1-0 Regular Season 1-0
9-2 Overall 6-5

Referees

Crew Chief
ARTEAGA, JUAN CARLOS, Spain
Referee
DRABIKOVSKY, VOLODYMR, Ukraine
Umpire
CHAMBON, DAVID, France

Team Stats

Ave.   Ave.
86.1 Points 76.5
36.6 Rebounds 29.7
11.0 O. Rebounds 8.5
25.6 D. Rebounds 21.3
13.6 Assists 12.9
8.2 Steals 8.5
3.2 Blocks 3.2
14.0 Turnovers 11.5
54.2 % 2PT 53.2 %
36.7 % 3PT 38.6 %
78.1 % FT 68.1 %
94.5 Index 81.0

Player Stats

Ave.   Ave.
15.7 / Acker Points 14.5 / HAISLIP, MARCUS
6.9 / Acker Rebounds 6.5 / HAISLIP, MARCUS
2.0 / Acker OR 1.8 / PRKACIN, NIKOLA
4.9 / Acker DR 5.0 / HAISLIP, MARCUS
4.0 / PENN, SCOONIE Assists 3.6 / Nicholas
2.4 / Acker Steals 1.3 / Akyol
0.8 / VASILOPOULOS, PANAGIOTIS Blocks 1.8 / HAISLIP, MARCUS
3.0 / Acker Turnovers 1.9 / Nicholas
80.0 % / HARISSIS, C. 2PT 65.7 % / Gonlum
46.7 % / PAPAMAKARIOS, MANOLIS 3PT 43.3 % / ERDEN, CUNEYT
100.0 % / HARISSIS, C. FT 80.0 % / ERDEN, CUNEYT
20.4 / Acker Index 16.7 / HAISLIP, MARCUS

THE TAKE

A big battle in the upper part of Group A takes place in Pireaus, Greece when Olympiacos hosts Efes Pilsen on Wednesday. Olympiacos (9-2) can get closer to becoming a top-seeded team in the Top 16 draw if it adds another victory. Meanwhile, Efes Pilsen (6-5) will advance to the next round if it wins or if Le Mans loses against Dynamo Moscow. Efes has beaten Olympiacos in their last three previous matchups in Athens, so the Reds hope to use this fact as extra motivation. Both teams faced each other earlier this season, when Efes beat Olympiacos 95-77 by burying 8 straight triples and 11 overall in a record-setting fourth quarter totalling 39 points - a Euroleague record for points in a fourth quarter. The Reds' main concern will be shutting down Efes perimeter players such as Drew Nicholas (14.1 ppg., 43.2% 3FG), Horace Jenkins (13.2 ppg.) and Cenk Akyol (6.7 ppg.), not to mention with Laron Profit (3 ppg.) and Cuneyt Erden (5.1 ppg., 43.3% 3FG), who help the team off the bench. Erden and Jenkins will have to share the point guard duties and try to stop Scoonie Penn (13 ppg., 4 apg.), while Alex Acker (15.7 ppg., 6.9 rpg., 2.4 spg.) and former Efes forward Henry Domercant (12.4 ppg.) will share responsibilities on offense in the continuing absence of injured scorer Arvydas Macijauskas. Intense guard Manolis Papamakarios (46.7% 3FG) and veteran Christos Harissis (2.3 ppg.) will help the Reds off the bench. Efes once again boasts a solid, deep frontcourt that can put Olympiacos in trouble, especially if center Sofoklis Schortsianitis (6.6 ppg., 2.4 rpg.), who sat out a Greek League game this weekend, misses this one, too. If he is sidelined, players like Ryan Stack (5.9 ppg., 4.2 rpg.) and Giannis Bouroussis (7.4 ppg., 3.8 rpg.) will see extended playing time alongside Andrija Zizic. If not, Schortsianitis is set to face the Euroleague blocks leader Marcus Haislip (14.5 ppg., 6.5 rpg., 1.8 bpg.), as well as a very good defensive player like Kerem Gonlum (5.5 ppg., 3.9 rpg.). Ermal Kuqo (9.5 ppg., 42.9% 3FG) and Niksa Prkacin (7.5 ppg.) round out the Efes frontcourt, which will try to put both Zizic and Schortsianitis into foul trouble. Above all, Olympiacos in an offensive-minded team while Efes has based its success over the last decade on its strong defense, so the game tempo could matter most of all in the outcome.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Euroleague.net - Kostas Sotiriou, Athens - Gokhan Ture, Istanbul

Quotes Head Coaches

GERSHON, PINI
Olympiacos
"Before the game against Le Mans, I said we wanted four wins in our last four games. Now, I am saying we want three wins in our last three games and the first has to be done against Efes Pilsen. I know very well that Olympiacos hasn't managed to beat this team over the last years, but I think this situation has to be changed. We expect to see a full gym and if that happens, then I am sure we are going to win this battle."
MAHMUTI, OKTAY
Efes Pilsen
"This is going to be a very hard game on the road for us, against a very tough and strong opponent. Olympiacos is a very good team with plenty of quality players. We have to stay well disciplined from the beginning until the end of the game. We need to maintain our resistance at the same level for the whole 40 minutes of time. This is the only way for the victory."

Players

PENN, SCOONIE
Olympiacos
"For Olympiacos, the game against Efes Pilsen must be the most important so far. We want this win in order to finish the regular season as the best second team and put ourselves at the head of a Top 16 group. They beat us in Istanbul, so now it is like a payback. The difference between the two games is going to be the last period. I mean, they will never shoot like they did. They made 11 threes in the final quarter and generally anything they shot hit nothing but net. We have to take control in the last quarter like we usually do and we will win this game. The second difference is our crowd. Our fans are going to be ready, like us, and they will help us succeed. I am expecting to see our gym full. The last time was against Tau Ceramica and I hope to see it like this. In this atmosphere, we will definitely be the winners."
ERDEN, CUNEYT
Efes Pilsen
"The Olympiacos game is going to be the toughest one we play in this season. They are stronger than before and playing much better when we compare them with previous seasons. There’s nothing much to say about the affect of Olympiacos fans on the game because we really know them very well. They are really very feverish and know how to put pressure on the opponent. What we need to do there is to stay tough and resistant for 40 minutes, try to be patient and to do our best to win the game."
Marcus Haislip - Efes Pilsen Efes Pilsen took the high road into the Top 16 from Group A by manhandling Olympiacos with a 72-91 road win that was seldom that close in the second half at Peace and Friendship Stadium in Pireaus, Greece on Wednesday. Its five-year run of dominance over the Reds continued with an eighth consecutive win - half of those away victories - to lift Efes to a 7-5 record and a place in the Top 16. Olympiacos, meanwhile, fell to 9-3 and could have jeapordized its chances of winning the group. Efes established double-digit leads in the second quarter and strapped on booster rockets in the third to amass margins as high as 35 points midway through the fourth. Marcus Haislip paced Efes in the first half and finished with 22 points, while Drew Nicholas took over after the break to down a floor-high 24. Horace Jenkins added 18 points and Ermal Kuqo 11, while the team defense of starred throughout, limiting the Reds to 40 points after three quarters. Henry Domercant led five double-figure scorers for Panathinaikos with 15 points. Panagiotis Vasilopoulos, Alex Acker and Giannis Bourousis added 12 each and Scoonie Penn 11. Efes downed 11 of its 25 three-point attempts as compared with 4 of 15 for Olympiacos.

Olympiacos got the scoreboard rolling on a jumper by Domercant before Efes went directly to its go-to guy of late, Haislip, who knocked down a triple on his first shot. Bourousis and Kuqo exchanged baskets in the paint, but Olympiacos looked rather nervous early, making only 3 of its first 9 shots. Soon, Efes went ahead 7-12 on a pair of free throws by Hasilip. Vasilopoulos came off the bench to rejuvenate the Reds with his energy and his trademark defense. He stole and finished the fastbreak, after which Penn used his quickness to punish Efes with back-to-back jumpers. His flashy drive then capped a 10-2 run that left Olympiacos ahead 17-16 after 10 minutes. Efes had made just 1 of 8 three-point attempts until then against the Olympiacos zone defense.

Alex Acker - OlympiacosThat changed in the second quarter, as Efes came out on fire, with Haislip dominating on offense and Olympiacos struggling to find open shots against the visitors' swarming defense. The Reds were held without a field goal for 5 minutes as Efes built a 19-28 advantage behind another basket from Haislip. Finally, Acker ended the Olympiacos drought with a three-point bomb that got the crowd going, but Kuqo bettered him with a basket and a pair of free throws for the first double-digit lead, 32-42. Domercant tried to pick up the scoring slack and bail out the Reds, but Jenkins was more accurate, nailing a triple to boost the lead and force Olympiacos coach Pini Gershon to call a timeout. Efes was in absolute control of the tempo, not allowing Olympiacos to step on the gas and embark on its usual run-and-gun basketball, and coasting into the half ahead by 28-36.

Haislip, the Euroleague's top shot blocker, started the second half by emphatically rejecting Ryan Stack before Nicholas unleashed a triple to keep the momentum going for Efes. Andrija Zizic answered back with a long jumper, his first points of the night, but Nicholas matched those points at the foul line. Stopping Nicholas turned into an uphill battle for the Reds as the former Euroleague scoring champ loaded his three-point pistol twice, nailing both, while in the meantime feeding Haislip for a monstrous dunk and a free throw that sent the guests galloping ahead 39-56. Olympiacos was now losing its grip, missing 6 shots in a row and committing 3 turnovers while Haislip dictated the flow with consecutive blocks. Efes, on the other hand, attacked at full speed and, thanks to a couple of downtown rockets by Jenkins, used a jaw-dropping 1-16 blast to command a 40-67 lead after 30 minutes.

The fourth quarter got underway with Nikola Prkacin scoring on layup for Efes and Jenkins soon putting the game completely out of reach with another triple and an uncontested drive. By the time Nicholas added 4 perfect free throws, the scoreboard read 46-80 and the Olympiacos fans were jeering. There was nothing the Reds could do right, and Efes kept its composure by following the do-no-wrong trio of Nicholas, Haislip and Jenkins. They stayed on fire, pushing the margin to a high of 54-89 before heading back to Instanbul with their Top 16 qualification in their pockets.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Danos Tsakalos, Athens
Referees: ARTEAGA, JUAN CARLOS (ESP), DRABIKOVSKY, VOLODYMR (UKR), CHAMBON, DAVID (FRA)
Attendance: 8000
By Quarter1234
Olympiacos17111232
Efes Pilsen16203124
End of Quarter1234
Olympiacos17284072
Efes Pilsen16366791
Head coach: GERSHON, PINI
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 PENN, SCOONIE 31:30 11 4/8 0/1 3/4   3 3 4   2   1 2 4 11
5 PAPAMAKARIOS, MANOLIS 19:00     0/1   1 1 2 2 1     1 3    
6 ACKER, ALEX 34:15 12 3/10 1/3 3/4   7 7 1   1   2 1 3 9
8 ZIZIC, ANDRIJA 25:45 2 1/4     2 1 3     2     3 1 -2
9 BOUROUSIS, IOANNIS 21:00 12 5/5   2/2 3 3 6   1 1     5 1 14
11 HARISSIS, CHRISTOS 10:15 4 1/2 0/1 2/2                 1 3 4
12 BARLOS, NIKOS 11:15 3 0/1 1/2     3 3 2   2   1 4   -1
13 VASILOPOULOS, PANAGIOTIS 13:15 12 3/5 1/3 3/6 3 2 5 1 4 4   1 1 3 12
14 STACK, RYAN 8:45 1 0/3   1/2 1 1 2   1 4   1 3 1 -7
17 STEFANOV, VRBICA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
44 DOMERCANT, HENRY 25:00 15 5/9 1/4 2/2 1 1 2 1 2 2     2 2 11
Team           2 1 3   1           4
Totals 200:00 72 22/47 4/15 16/22 13 23 36 11 10 18 0 7 25 18 55
46.8% 26.7% 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: MAHMUTI, OKTAY
Efes Pilsen
# 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 NICHOLAS, DREW 29:45 24   5/7 9/11   5 5 4 1 4     1 7 32
6 ERMIS, BARIS 0:15 2     2/2                 1 2 3
8 PRKACIN, NIKOLA 13:30 4 2/2   0/2   1 1 1         2 3 5
9 PROFIT, LaRon 15:30 6 2/3 0/2 2/2   5 5   2   1   1 2 12
10 ABI, MUSTAFA 33:15 4 2/2 0/1   1 2 3 4 1 1     4 5 11
11 ERDEN, CUNEYT 9:15               1 2 1     2 1 1
12 GONLUM, KEREM 4:30   0/1       1 1 1             1
13 HAISLIP, MARCUS 35:30 22 6/10 2/6 4/5 1 6 7 1   4 6   3 3 23
14 HERSEK, BARIS 1:15                   2         -2
15 JENKINS, HORACE 30:45 18 3/5 4/8     1 1   1 2     1   11
17 BAYAV, ENGIN EMRE DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
23 KUQO, ERMAL 26:30 11 4/7 0/1 3/4 1 5 6 1   1     3 2 11
Team             1 1               1
Totals 200:00 91 19/30 11/25 20/26 3 27 30 13 7 15 7 0 18 25 109
63.3% 44% 76.9%
This game is not yet played

Head Coaches

GERSHON, PINI
Olympiacos
“I want to apologize to our fans for the abysmal performance and the defeat. This is a 'black night' for me, the players and the club. Everything we did was terrible. I am not going to blame my players. I am the one who should be held responsible for the way we played tonight. The truth is that tonight we wouldn’t have scored more points even if we had played against five cones. Tonight, we reached approximately 55% of our performance. Again, I owe the fans an apology because they came to watch a game and instead they watched a terrible show, a tragedy. It’s logical that they booed us.”
MAHMUTI, OKTAY
Efes Pilsen
“We were in total control throughout the entire match. We had rhythm in both ends of the floor and offensively we didn’t rush or force any shots. Obviously, I didn’t expect us to win so easily or the lead to soar as high as it actually did, yet these things happen. I am delighted because we qualified to the Top 16.”

Players

PAPAMAKARIOS, MANOLIS
Olympiacos
“Our performance was as bad as it gets. I am frustrated not so much because we were defeated, but mostly due to the fact that we let Efes Pilsen turn the match into a show. Now, we should work hard, realize what went wrong and fix it.”
KUQO, ERMAL
Efes Pilsen
“I never thought we would grab the win so easily. We didn’t face any trouble, as we ruled the game. As a matter of fact, our performance was another clear indication that we are improving and playing better as the season proceeds. We’ll get even better when all the injured players return.”
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