Season opener at SUNEL Arena with a tough test for Olympiacos!
The “Red-and-Whites” face off tonight (10/9, 9:15 p.m.) against Efes in the 4th round of the EuroLeague, in their first game played at the Ano Liosia Indoor Arena, where they will continue to play until the complete renovation of the SEF is finished.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Olympiacos is looking to get back on track after its narrow loss in Italy at Virtus Bologna’s home court, where they struggled significantly on defense and ultimately lost 96-94 on a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Carr. This followed two road wins against Baskonia (106-89) and Žalgiris (93-91), while last Sunday they made a winning debut in the Stoiximan GBL, defeating Heraklis 78-68 in Thessaloniki at the Ivanofio Arena.
On the court, the only absence for the Piraeus team is Plotas, who suffered a ligament injury to his left elbow and will be sidelined for about 6 weeks. Hall traveled to the U.S. for personal reasons but returned to Greece on Thursday and is available to play.
“Efes is an opponent we have great respect for, because of their coach and roster, but also because of their tradition. We believe they’ll have a much better season than last year. So far, they’ve beaten Real Madrid in the previous round and lost their two away games by a single possession in the final moments. “They’ve improved tremendously since last year and have a much better defense,” said Giorgos Bartzokas, among other things, ahead of tonight’s matchup.
On the other hand, Efes has celebrated only one victory in its first three games of this year’s EuroLeague. They began their campaign with an 89-82 loss on the road against Barcelona, while last week they initially defeated Real Madrid 94-84 in Istanbul, but then lost 77-72 in Belgrade to Red Star. In the Turkish league, they have started with a 2-2 record, having defeated Besiktas 95-81 in their season opener and, just a few days ago, secured a victory (85-79) on the road against Bandirma.
On the court, Pablo Laso will be without Mike James, and won’t be able to count on him for some time, as the veteran guard suffered an Achilles tendon injury and will be sidelined for 7–9 months. Both Cordiniere and Papagiannis remain sidelined; Papagiannis is in the “final stretch” of his recovery from the serious injury he sustained. Cameron Payne is available; his signing was announced a few days ago.
“We’ll be facing the European champions. Olympiacos has improved with the moves it’s made at every position. It has a deep roster and is implementing Giorgos Bartzokas’s principles. We need to understand that this game will be difficult for us. If we want to beat them, we have to play very well for 40 minutes,” said the Efes coach.
The referees for tonight’s game will be Robert Lottermoser (Germany), Michele Rossi (Italy), and Gendian Çiçi (Albania).
In the teams’ matchups last season, Efes won 82-78 at SEF, while Olympiacos got its revenge with a 74-68 victory in Istanbul.
*photo source: KYPE
