Olympiacos officially objects

on January 19th, 2013 | 18 comments

By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net

Olympiacos versus Siena was a thrilling game and the possibility of a… replay can’t be excluded, because the clock was stuck for some time on the ten seconds before the final buzzer. The Greeks officially objected the result, the Italians examined the possibility of doing the same as a way to counter-object the Reds, however they decided that they will just send to Euroleague an official memo with their position.

Both teams will send their official paperwork on Monday to Euroleague and the independent judge of the competition has until the 24th of January to decide if the game will be replayed. It’s not something so farfetched as it seems. The last example of a replay is quite similar to what happened in SEF. The replayed game was the Eurocup encounter between Allen Iverson’s Besiktas and Goettingen and here’s the decision of Eurocup’s judge. You can watch in the video the last seconds of that game.

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Comments (18)

Jason Sunday - 31 / 03 / 2013 Reply

Leave to the Europeans....After screwing the economy of the Euro zone, now they screw and the Euro League.....
MK7 Tuesday - 22 / 01 / 2013 Reply

The counter objection from Siena's side is really non sense if not ridiculous.How on earth could Olympiakos double benefit from the clock stoppage as Italians state? Appart from any arguments in favor of either side, one thing is sure that there has been a jugdement in the past for an identical glitch on the clock run that sets a legal PECEDENT and any other decision than the repeat of the game would be a scandal and would definetly put the credibility of the Euroleague organization in great question.
- Luigi Wednesday - 23 / 01 / 2013 Reply
  
  I'm from Siena, but I think that the most important difference is that the home team has the responsability of timer and of organization. That's all, anyway.
  - george Thursday - 24 / 01 / 2013 Reply
    
    Luigi, I'm an Olympiacos fan. You are correct - timers are the home team's responsibility . However, they're only machines, and they do fail. What we are talking about though, is that above and beyond technological screwups, Bobby Brown's fast break layup was after the game was finished. It's that simple. Since they didn't rule fast enough (THEN AND THERE) to take the game to over-time, the only thing they can possibly do to make things right is repeat the game.
- juanito Thursday - 24 / 01 / 2013 Reply
  
  This is also true - there is a legal pRecedent. Therefore, since the case is identical, it MUST be ruled in the SAME way now too. Beyond the legal part though, plain logic itself says that the game must be repeated. The countdown timer (that the olympiakos players look up towards during the game) getting stuck with a few seconds to go, just creates confusion and extra anxiety for them and instead of them playing the offense as they would/could, they made a nervous choice (since they didn't know what was going on with the time left!). There is NO WAY Hines would have just "decided" to take the shot with 6 whole seconds left obviously. He took it knowing that the time (he was counting down in his mind - as all players do) was practically at the game end-buzzer! Simple fact - in the REAL time, Brown wouldn't have gotten as far as mid-court - not a layup LOL! The game would have been a tie, going to overtime. That should have been done immediately. Now, regrettably, the ONLY thing the Euroleague can (MUST) do is repeat the game from a tie score where it was (0-0 is a tie score too lol).
henry Monday - 21 / 01 / 2013 Reply

Dear All, For the record, I'm "for" neither team of the two in question - just a basketball fan :) In all fairness though, any team with professional & experienced players (in this case Olympiacos) playing at home, and with a tied score and 19" on the clock (all the time for their team's offence left, that is) would use up ALL the time left on the clock for their own team and leave none for the others. The timer jammed at 10" to go and that ruined the whole way they would have used their time. Even if they had missed (which they finally did) the game would have gone to overtime and not a loss. Spanoulis could not have known whether the clock would start counting again from where it WOULD have been at some point so he played on instinct from where his mind was unconsciously counting down (Law, and then Hines, where looking at him and NOT the jammed timer at that time as was only normal). This means that the whole offence was played on the Red players' (correct) intuition of remaining time (with a "safety net" of the game going to OT even if they missed) even though the timer stopped working. The best Siena could have done if the clock was working right, was to have thrown the ball from their side of the court and hoped for a miracle/fluke 3-pointer. It could even be argued that Spanoulis would have played the last offence differently, or have even made a better choice (which would have led them to victory) if he had a clearer mind (instead of thinking about the jammed timer and what was happening there...). I honestly think that a game repeat is mandatory and only fair. It is also very professional from Siena's side not to have countered Olymiacos's objection in light of all the above. It shows that they are not looking for handouts and want to try to win fair & square.
- henry Tuesday - 22 / 01 / 2013 Reply
  
  oops... I take it back about Siena's position lol - I just read that they sent a written statement to Euroleague claiming that Olympiacos even benefitted (lol!) from the fact that the clock stopped working for the 3.7 seconds (all the time that it took for them to run coast-to-coast and score their winning layup, that is.. I'm pretty sure Euroleague will rule fairly on this and repeat the game!
  - henry Tuesday - 22 / 01 / 2013 Reply
    
    The fact is that Hines wouldn't have taken the shot if he thought there were 6 whole seconds left - which there weren't! - the guy's a pro, why would he want to give Siena the last play?... Duh...
Ivan Renko Monday - 21 / 01 / 2013 Reply

Greeks...always cheating. They had the last possesion but they lost the ball and then: surprise! If the greeks had scored they wouldn't be whining now.
- John Tuesday - 22 / 01 / 2013 Reply
  
  If Greeks had scored in the prolonged offence then Italians would have objected. So the game would have been repeated anyway.
  - Ivan Renko Tuesday - 22 / 01 / 2013 Reply
    
    Surely not. Because the ball would disappear misteriously while the time is running...as so many other games in greece...
Ming Sunday - 20 / 01 / 2013 Reply

Sorry for all those that don't know basketball but Olympiacos wasn't cheated, Siena won fair and square. Olympiacos is using the fact that they are a big club and the defending champs to push their weight around. I have had the privilege of watching both teams live and Olympiacos love to capitalize on any little mishap. With that said I am not surprised at what they are doing at all but it is unfortunate. I think Olympiacos will be extremely upset if they are granted a rematch because I can already tell you Siena will come back with a vengeance, the results will remain the remain the same!
AP Sunday - 20 / 01 / 2013 Reply

Erik is clearly either a Panathinaikos or Siena fan. Olympiacos was robbed, and Euroleague can't be taken seriously if they don't replay that game. Never in a million years would the NBA allow something like that to happen.
Italy72 Saturday - 19 / 01 / 2013 Reply

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McMwb6tpZaU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctcHKvD6e-Y Non si possono far ripetere le partite ogni volta che accadono dei malfunzionamenti. Ma di chi è la colpa, poi?
Greg Saturday - 19 / 01 / 2013 Reply

Olympiacos did the right thing to object. They at least deserve to get an overtime replay, if not then, at least the whole game played again. That clock stoppage completely screwed up their entire defense on that last possession, and they had no way of knowing that Brown could have enough time to score when he got the ball. They would have been expecting him to heave up a 60 foot shot, and instead he went coast to coast. It would be a black eye on Euroleague, if they let that result stand, and then Olympiacos, the defending champion, got eliminated from the playoffs, as a result of that game and clock screw up. Euroleague has to do something about this, if it wants to be taken seriously, and as a serious league. If they let this go, it makes Euroleague look very amateurish.
- Erik Saturday - 19 / 01 / 2013 Reply
  
  Dear Greg, Olympiacos was the one who initially benefited from the clock stopping, gaining three seconds in an offense with all the time available for them. It was their choice to go for the basket leaving time for a counter attack fast break. Then they benefited again by getting a chance for a shot at 1.7 of non existent time. Take under consideration that this happened in Greece, with Greek timers, that the clock stopped while Olympiacos was still ahead in the score, while they had the ball with the right to conduct a full time offence and it's plain to see why Euroleague will most probably take no actions to rectify it.
  - george7 Saturday - 19 / 01 / 2013 Reply
    
    dear erik... with all due respect, your considerations are totally wrong.. this will be a major foul for the european basketball, if the match is not repeated... spanoulis organised the last offence according to the seconds left.. obviously acie law did the same, as he passed the ball for the finishing alley oup 8 (!) seconds before running out of time, according to the damaged timer... this is a hillarious attack for a team of a top level... its obvious that the ones that benefitted from the stuck timer (mistakes happen) are the greens.. this is something that siena's coach admitted too... so, its more than fare if there is an overtime, or, for convienience reasons, a replayed game.. olympiacos at this time was not ahead, as you say, the match was a tie.. so we will see... but if nothing happens, dont be sure that this will end just like that
    - Erik Saturday - 19 / 01 / 2013 Reply
      
      Dear George7, I could be wrong but I'm not. 1. it will not be a major foul for the european basketball if the match is not repeated because as a rule, basketball games are not repeated, even if there is a a big mishap such as this. 2 Spanoulis did organize the last offense according to the time he saw at the clock above the basket. Which was stopped as well. All clocks showed the same time. It was an offense of 13 seconds elongated to 16. Then Spanoulis gets double teamed. 3 he doesn't pass the ball for an alley hoop of course. He passes to Law to break the double team. Then, Law, as he has already stated to the press, on his own account and freely, that he saw Hines had an opportunity, he didn't mind the time left, just passed the ball to Hines who eventually missed. 5. I will not challenge your personal opinions as to if it is a hilarious attack or if it is FAIR, these are your opinions and you are entitled to them. 6. The Italian coach stated that the clock stopped at a very strange time, when Olympiacos was on the offense and wondered whether it was done on purpose. He then said that if they did that (stop the clock) then they gave us a chance to win. No more, no less. 7. I can hardly see the convenience in replaying a game in the early stages of a very long second leg of the euroleague championship. 8. you are correct, when the time stopped Olympiacos was not ahead, they were tied and Olympiacos had the ball. 9. I think it will end just like that. I don't wish it, I just think it will. Maybe Olympiacos gets favorable referees in the next couple of games but I'm sure there will be no rematch.