By Alex Molina / info@eurohoops.net
After Fenerbahçe conceded 104 points in a loss to Olympiacos, Wade Baldwin spoke to Eurohoops’s Antonis Stroggylakis about how one of the competition’s top defensive teams allowed such a high score. The American point guard praised the opponent’s performance. “Olympiacos played a great game. Vezenkov, Fournier had a career-high…” he said, highlighting in particular the standout night from the French guard, who erupted for 36 points. “He has had an up-and-down season. Today, he took off. When the three ball is falling for him, he is one of the best players in our league. Olympiacos, the whole team, played their style of basketball at home, and they won tonight.”
Baldwin explained that part of the defensive struggles stemmed from ongoing tactical experimentation. “We are trying new things out defensively. We’ve had real success with switching, but we’re trying to implement more drop coverage heading into the playoffs,” he noted. The adjustment, however, has not been seamless: “We’re going through a bit of a slump with that. Some guys were out for this game, and this was a makeup game for us.”
Despite the defeat, Baldwin dismissed any suggestion that Fenerbahçe lacked urgency due to its strong position in the standings. “We know our situation. It was a tough game, but we have to be ready for the next one. We have Milan on Friday, and we will turn the ship around.”
Looking at the bigger picture, Baldwin framed the loss as part of a necessary process. “We need to take some losses,” he admitted, referencing Fenerbahçe’s recent 19-game winning streak. “The last time we lost was in January—we didn’t even remember it. We went on a 19-game winning streak, and now we’ve lost two. This is basketball. We were on the verge of breaking a EuroLeague record with that run, but this is EuroLeague basketball— not every game is a guaranteed win.”
At this stage of the season, it is inevitable to think about the so-called EuroLeague regular-season “curse”: the team that finishes first in the standings has never gone on to win the title. But Baldwin is focused elsewhere. “We have to finish the season—38 games this year, extremely tough. The matchups are so close that a first or second seed could face teams like Panathinaikos, Monaco or Barcelona,” he warned, underlining the difficulty of winning the title.