By Antonis Stroggylakis / astroggylakis@eurohoops.net
ABU DHABI– The loss of Olympiacos Piraeus to AS Monaco in the EuroLeague semifinal still weighs heavily on Evan Fournier and the rest of the team.
“Yeah, it doesn’t feel good”, he said after practice on Saturday, “I’m not sure what else to say”.
Moments after the game was over and after scoring a game-high 30, a visibly upset Fournier burst into tears right after leaving the floor and before he started walking through the mixed zone toward the locker rooms.
After his post-game flash interview, Monaco coach Vassilis Spanoulis, who was taking the same route, saw Fournier. He hugged him and spoke some words to him, trying to comfort him.
“I was trying to gather myself, and Coach Spanoulis was around and he gave me a few words”, said Fournier. “I only met him once and I really enjoyed our conversation back then. I thought it was good of him to show support and compassion”.
Fournier’s emotional reaction sparked a wave of support by Olympiacos fans.
“Well, if I’m being honest, I’ve been avoiding staying at the hotel”, Fournier explained, talking about the messages he received on social media, “So I didn’t see many of them, but the few that I saw were very supportive. Very encouraging, I mean, you know. They’re amazing fans, man. I mean, all year long, after a defeat or after wins, they’ve always been extremely supportive. That’s why losing yesterday was so hard”.
Olympiacos delivered one of their sloppiest displays this season against Monaco. The latter forced one of the top offensive teams of the 2024-25 EuroLeague to perform well below their standards.
It’s telling that with five minutes remaining, Olympiacos had just 58 points.
“I mean, there were reasons. It didn’t just magically happen, but you know, give credit to Monaco for paying well. The main goal now is to focus on. The Greek League finals against Panathinaikos, that’s the main focus, but again, day by day, I mean, you know, disappointment is gonna take a few days to to really kind of get out of our system, I think once we get back to Athens and get back to practice, we’re gonna feel better. Tomorrow’s game is going to be helped if I’m being honest, because it’s a tough matchup and you know we owe everyone to play hard”.