By Rigas Dardalis/ dardalis@eurohoops.net
Olympiacos started the season with low expectations, but on Sunday the Reds will be playing in the Euroleague final against CSKA. Coach Dusan Ivkovic’s team beat Barcelona 68-64, played extraordinary defense and had a great leader, Vasilis Spanoulis, scoring 21 points. The 2009 Final Four MVP had help from Giorgos Printezis (14 p.) and Joey Dorsey (8 p.), although Olympiacos secret to success was his team play.
“That was unexpected, nobody believed that we could beat Barcelona”, said Duda in the press conference, before adding: “Our advantage is our energy and rebounding (ed.note: Barcelona got 43 rebounds, 19 of them offensives). We will rest and we will try to play a different game on Sunday”. Juan Carlos Navarro had 18 points for Barcelona and he seemed to be the only player from his team unfazed from the Final Four pressure. The Catalans had just 3 three pointers in 19 tries.
Olympiacos – Barcelona 68-64
OLYMPIACOS: Hines 2, Antic 4, Spanoulis 21 (6 as., 6 t.), Dorsey 8, Keselj, Printezis 14, Papanikolaou 9, Mantzaris 4, Sloukas 2, Law 4
BARCELONA: Sada 6, Huertas 4, Navarro 18, Perovic 2, Vazquez 8 (7 r.), Wallace 3, Ingles, Ndong 10, Lorbek 9, Eidson, Mickael 4
See the press conference and the player’s quotes after the semifinal of Barcelona against Olympiacos.