View from the Bench: Final Game
For more than a decade, Dimitris Itoudis has been one of the most visible assistant coaches in basketball and one of the biggest winners in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague as the right-hand man of Zeljko Obradovic as they and Panathinaikos lifted five continental titles between 2000 and 2011. This season, Coach Itoudis will educate Euroleague fans with his expertise by analyzing games every week on Euroleague.net!
Final Game analysis: Olympiacos Piraeus 100-88 Real Madrid
The 2012-13 Turkish Airlines Euroleague season gave us a champion in London, and I would say a very deserved champion: Olympiacos. The final game was very exciting, between two teams who wanted the title very much. Olympiacos faced defending the previous year's title and a chance to re-write history with back-to-back trophies. Madrid, in a Euroleague final for the first time since 1995, had its first opportunity in a long time to win the championship. But in basketball, only one team can be victorious, and that was Olympiacos. I have to offer many congratulations to the team's management, its players and, of course, the coaches. Let's analyze the final game, quarter by quarter.
First quarter: Olympiacos Piraeus 10-27 Real Madrid
Behind starters Sergio Llull, Rudy Fernandez, Carlos Suarez, Nikola Mirotic and Mirza Begic, Madrid dominated the opening quarter, taking early leads and shooting the ball extremely well: 5-for-7 three-pointers, 6-for-8 two pointers and just 2 turnovers. At the same time, Olympiacos starters Acie Law, Vassilis Spanoulis, Kostas Papanikolaou, Georgios Printezis and Josh Powell had very bad performances, offensively and defensively. Madrid's defense vs. the Reds' basic creator, Spanoulis, was very good . That defense made three blocks and forced Olympiacos to turn over the ball three other times. Also, the defending champs couldn't find their touch from beyond the arc, where went 0-for-5 on three-pointers.
Real Madrid's defense
Madrid starts the game focused and manages to force turnovers.
Real Madrid's offense:
Madrid's offensive execution was sharp and Olympiacos was without any defensive reaction. They didn't use the fouls and couldn't stop Madrid's run.
Second quarter: Olympiacos Piraeus 27-14 Real Madrid
With its second unit of Dimitrios Katsivelis, Kostas Sloukas, Stratos Perperoglou, Pero Antic and Kyle Hines, Olympiacos gets back in the game and manages to close the difference from -17 to -4. After Antic made a turnaround three-pointer, Olympiacos brought a better defensive effort and forced 5 turnovers from Madrid. At the same time, the Reds shot the ball better, making 4 of 7 three-pointers and 4 of 5 two-pointers. Perperoglou and Hines changed the momentum with their efficiency. For Madrid, Sergio Rodriguez was the player who kept their offense alive with his creation and execution. At the same time, Jaycee Carroll couldn't replace the production of Llull or Fernandez.
Olympiacos's defense
Olympiacos established better defensive balance and managed to force bad shots or turnovers on Madrid.
Olympiacos's offense
Olympiacos's second unit, especially Perperoglou, Antic and Hines, changed the momentum of the game.
Third quarter: Olympiacos Piraeus 24-20 Real Madrid
This quarter belongs to Spanoulis. The captain and the barometer of the champions had been scoreless in the first half. But obviously, he has the quality and the experience to overcome, and he did it with 3 consecutive three-pointers. Madrid in this quarter tried full-court pressure and their match-up, 1-2-2 zone, with Slaughter at the top of the key to contain Spanoulis, but the Reds always had the answer. The end of the quarter finds both team tied, 61-61, but the most important thing is that Olympiacos came back from minus 17 and their captain had got hot. Let's see the highlights.
Spanoulis on fire
He scored 3 three-pointers without being contested by his defender, Llull, and with Madrid's big man, Begic, staying deep in the paint. Remember, the same defense worked in the first quarter, when Madrid forced Spanoulis to the paint with drives and Begic manage to block him, but now Spanoulis decided to try his long jumpers!
Reds beat Madrid pressure
Real Madrid tried full-courtpressure and a zone to contain Spanoulis.
Madrid's reaction, missed opportunity
Madrid used a 1-8 run to retake the lead, but then missed shots that could have taken back the momentum going into the fourth quarter.
Fourth quarter: Olympiacos Piraeus 39-27 Real Madrid
Olympiacos, after coming back from 17 behind, wins the final by 12 points. This means that after the first quarter, Olympiacos beat Madrid by 31 points. From 10-27 to the 100-88 final score, the partial score was 90-61 for Olympiacos. VERY IMPRESSIVE!!!!
Once again, I have to say congratulations for a deserved victory to everyone on Olympiacos! They were the best TEAM at the 2013 Final Four in London. Congratulations!
Finally, I want to thank Euroleague Basketball, especially Frank Lawlor, Goran Sasic and Edu Roca for their value contribution and for our collaboration this season. And of course, I thank you, the fans, for reading and watching. Keep following the Turkish Airlines Euroleague!
POSTED BY
Dimitris Itoudis
DATE:
Tuesday, June 04, 2013
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario