Olympiakos’ 7/32 three-pointers against the brilliant Peristeri “struck” the eye, but they should not cause concern. After all, Giorgos Bartzokas’ priority at the start of the season was different. Written by Harris Stavreau.
Peristeri’s management decision cut the budget by 1/3 compared to last season, and removed Vassilis Spanoulis from the Western Suburbs.
The retrograde move raised many question marks over the company’s future, but reports from the team now led by Giorgos Limniadis suggest they can play better than last year’s third team and last year’s Championship budget.
He proved that in the Stoiximan Super Cup semi-final against Olympiakos as he pushed Piraeus to their limits until the last minute.
For Peristeri, Justin Patton and Neocles Avtala, Chris Coffey and Vangelis Zoukris will have time to discuss. There aren’t many teams we’re looking forward to seeing in the Stoiximan Basket League. It’s definitely on our short list.
On the other hand, for Olympiakos, we don’t draw any conclusions that haven’t already emerged from their preparation and some friendlies.
The truth is, we were surprised by the opposition of Peristeri, and we expected to see it contested, but not for so long as forty days. The appearance of Olympiakos is also responsible for Peristeri’s longevity.
The Piraeus team finished the tournament with 21% from three-point range, they took 7/32 to the double edge of Kallithea’s indoor team, which has been much debated in recent years, but the high percentage is important. These shots came from good circulation and it was uncontested. In simple Greek, free, open, “take away.”
Shooting was also on that day. And that’s not a cliché, it’s a basketball fact. Shooting certainly isn’t the issue for Olympiakos at the moment, especially when talking about a team with Vildoza, Dorsey, Fournier, Peters, Vesenkov, Petrusev.
The problem for Olympiakos is that in the second official match of the season, he is “necessarily” in over his head, without clarifying the “hierarchy”, without finding the chemistry, without finding the patterns he can continue into the season. and trust among its members.
Bartsokas entered the matchup against Peristeri with Fournier at two and knocked Dorsey out of the starting five.
At the start of the second half, he put Dorsey on the two and Fournier on the three, with Papanicolaou on the bench.
After a third period in which Peristeri scored 29 points, the Olympiakos coach kept Vesenko off until the 38th minute when the match turned into a derby. For three reasons: to show that he trusts everyone, to further stimulate the psychology of the great Petrusev, and to “show” the best player of his team that he makes important decisions in difficult times.
Olympiakos didn’t make many moves. Some of these are very … special.
Vildoza is a player who likes the ball in his hands.
Dorsey wants a lot of possessions.
“Very” Fournier tries to balance, does not force situations and realizes that it takes time until those around him know what they are asking of him and where to apply extra pressure.
Veshenkov is playing like he hasn’t missed a game, showing that he’ll put up 30 or more points if needed, but no one is asking him to do that, and it’s actually not going to help Olympiakos anywhere.
Forty minutes of open discussions with Peristeri, along with the two main centers and Thomas Walkup, many forget the man who is the A and O of the defensive operation, although there is no need for hasty decisions or intense emotions. The production is strange and Olympiakos cannot reach 60%-70% of their true potential before a month or two passes.
For now, however, the first title of the year is at stake in the second official game of the season. Which isn’t very important, it’s clearly the fourth in terms of values that Pires claims until June 2025, but… it’s a topic. And after last year’s end, it’s worth a little more.
Two years ago, Bartzokas walkup, Cannon, Papanikolaou, Vesenkov, fall in first and Sluka, Lorentzky, McKissick, Peters, Poloboy/Black in the second five.
Last year he had Walkup, Cannon, Papanicolaou, Peters, Fall in first and Williams-Goss, McGissick, Lorentzky, Petrusev, Milutinov/Wright in the second five.
This year, no one in the starting five has a locked-in position except for Sasha Veshenko, who is only considered untouchable in NBA regulations.
The coach of Olympiakos, when we asked him the relevant question last night, replied that he is not stubborn and that he is still looking for systems that work. The process is interesting, but it confirms what the Greek coach said two nights ago. How in a season of 10 months, there is no quiet night.
Olympiacos – Panathinaikos, therefore, one of 16 to date in the season (1 Super Cup, 1 Cup, 2 regular season championships, 2 regular season EuroLeague, 5 EuroLeague playoffs, 5 championship finals).
We didn’t expect elite level basketball, but we did say that last year ended in epic A1 finals on several occasions.
May the best man win.
P.S.: The layout of the Kallithea Roads closed circuit is very interesting and can’t wait to see the fourth platform when it comes. In general, the work done by the Islanders and ESAKE over the past few days has been extraordinary.