Olympiacos thrashed visiting Prokom Trefl Sopot by 97-74 in Pireaus, Greece on Thursday to take over sole possession of first place in Group A and stay on the short list of undefeated teams in the Euroleague after three weeks. The Reds now lead their group at 3-0, while Prokom finds itself at 1-2. Inside dominance marked the game from the outset, and soon Olympiacos was nursing and adding to double-digit leads that were never threatened the rest of the way. Andrija Zizic led five Olympiacos scorers with 22 points in just 24 minutes on the floor. Alex Acker added 14 points, Scoonie Penn and Sofoklis Schortsianitis 12 each, while Ryan Stack had 11 and 10 rebounds for a double-double. Prokom's scoring came mostly on the perimeter, where Donatas Slanina drilled 19 points, Justin Hamilton 15 and Christian Dalmau 11.
Prokom's backcourt started the game hot as Rasheed Atkins first drove to the basket and then chipped in a triple, while Hamilton nailed a jumper for an early 2-7 scoreboard. Olympiacos answered back by feeding Zizic and Stack inside to get within 8-9. When Stack connected from behind the arc too, and seconds later dished to Zizic in a high-low set, the Reds were ahead 13-9. Henry Domercant came off the bench to pop a three-pointer on his first touch as Prokom ran out of open opportunities and could not follow Olympiacos in transition to defense. Penn, Domercant and Zizic fired the Reds ahead 22-12, and Schortsianitis made his presence evident with a basket. Slanina stepped up for Prokom with free throws and a corner triple as the first quarter ended 26-17.
 At the start of the second quarter, Panagiotis Vassilopoulos scored 5 points in a row on a triple-dunk combination but Dalmau was there for Prokom to nail a three-pointer. When Alex Acker found consecutive lay ups, Olympiacos built its biggest lead yet, 35-22. Adam Wojcik scored from the arc for Prokom, but Olympiacos remained in charge, scoring 7 more unanswered points punctuated by Acker’s triple at 42-25. Penn made his team's fifth triple so far while Prokom settles for free throws by Slanina and Huseyin Besok. These two proved the go-to guys for Prokom in that time as they combined on 8 points to make it 45-36. Although Prokom's defense had strengthened some, the Reds had the last word before halftime with a 7-2 run that featured a buzzer-beating layup by Christos Charissis that made it 52-39 at the break.
Hamilton nailed a triple from downtown to open the second half, but Acker’s sixth assist sent Zizic for an impressive tomahawk dunk that made it 55-42. Atkins chipped in another three-pointer for Prokom, but Olympiacos still found it easy to score, whether passing inside, penetrating or shooting from outside. Domercant, Zizic and Acker sparked a 8-0 blast that forged a 20-point-difference, 65-45, after 25 minutes. Hamilton reacted for the guests, but Stack, Zizic and Acker, with a triple, pushed the difference to 72-48. As Prokom seemed to stop pushing now, Schortsianitis pushed the Reds ahead 77-50 with 5 points of his own. Prokom was suffering on both sides of the floor, but Hamilton's late basket fixed a 77-52 scoreboard after three quarters.
Both teams started the final quarter knowing that that the outcome was decided. Schortsianitis's dominance in the paint remained obvious at 79-53, but perimeter shots now fell easily for Prokom. Dalmau scored three times and Wojcik and added a in a 0-10 Prokom run that made it 79-63, but Schortsianitis answered with consecutive layups before the Olympiacos reserves came on the floor. Manolis Papamakarios nailed a jumper and a corner triple to make it 90-66. Slanina, after having scored 15 in the first half, added his first points of the second, but he and his teammates were too late for a final buzzer that left Olympiacos an easy 97-74 winner.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Stelios Kyriakoglou, Athens
|