2001-02Regular SeasonRound 10
January 09, 2002 CET: 00:00
Local time: 00:00 HALA LUDOWA
Olympiakos of Piraeus beat Idea Slask Wroclaw 75-80 on the road Wednesday in Poland, and with its 7-3 record, maintains its good options to qualify for the Top 16 phase. The defeat effectively knocks the Polish champion (2-8) from any hope of advancement. Olympiakos led throughout the game, and the beginning of the final period seamed to have sealed the outcome with a 14-point lead, 50-64. But Slask came back with heart, encouraged by its fans, and made the game tight at the finish. With two free throws by Dominik Tomczyc and a three-pointer by Michael Hawkins, former Olympiakos player, Slask cut the deficit down to 62-66 with 3 minutes, 43 seconds to go, and after that even closer, to 67-69. But another three-pointer, this time by Milan Tomic, gave Olympiakos some important breathing room. That's because Hawkins replied with a three-point play for 70-72, but Alphonso Ford with four points and Tomic with another three-pointer stretched the lead to 72-79, ending the suspense.

Olympiakos led in Wroclaw for all 40 minutes thanks to two 8-0 runs at the start of the first and the third quarters. All outside players were efficient and the second half was dominated by the inside players. When the game was faster, Olympiakos extended the lead, so Slask tried to slow down the pace of the game. Theodoros Papaloukas handed off some great passes, Ford scored easy points after fastbreaks and Stephane Risacher added some middle distance shots.

Slask has had huge personel problems to deal with. Five of Slask players from the present roster entered the game without experience in the Euroleague and captain Maciej Zielinski played with an injury. But in the first half Slask was controlling the battle on the boards thanks to Rafal Bigus and Michael Wright. Both of Slask's inside players grabbed 12 rebounds in the first half, exactly the same as all of Olympiakos. Also Michael Hawkins played very well (9 points in the second quarter) and Slask closed the gap to just two points in the 18th minute (31-33).

In the third quarter Slask had huge problems on offence and Olympiakos controlled the game, particularly thanks to second chance shots. In the second quarter the guest team won the battle on the boards 25-8. Slask's inside players had some foul problems and the home team did not have enough power to stop Patrick Femerling and James Forrest. The start of the fourth quarter was dominated by defence, Olympiakos was still leading by around 10 points and the game seemed over. But in the last minutes both of Slask's Americans made some three-point plays and Slask again closed the gap to just two points. Then Ford showed what it means to be a real leader. He scored four consecutive points for Olympiakos following some offensive rebounds. Slask has lost eight consecutive games, but the fans were much more proud of the team then after the game against Charleroi.
Wednesday, January 9, 2002
Andrzej Jaworski, Wroclaw
No results found.
Referees: ARTEAGA, JUAN CARLOS; RESSER, EFIM; REATTO, MARCELLO
Attendance: 4000
By Quarter1234
Idea Slask16181625
Olympiacos22162220
End of Quarter1234
Idea Slask16345075
Olympiacos22386080
Idea Slask
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
5 BIGUS, RAFAEL 20:00 5 2/5   1/4 1 4 5 1   1 1 3 4 3 1
6 WRIGHT, MICHAEL 30:00 18 6/13   6/7 2 9 11   2 2 1   1 5 26
7 HAWKINS, MICHAEL 33:00 24 7/10 2/6 4/7   1 1 6 4 3   1 5 6 22
8 BAJER, ARTUR DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
9 ZIELINSKI, MACIEJ 24:00 5 2/3 0/1 1/2 1   1 2   2   1 2 3 3
10 WIEKIERA, PAWEL 16:00 2 1/2 0/2             1     2 2 -2
11 ADOMAITIS, DAINIUS 31:00 9 1/3 2/4 1/4   4 4 2   2   2 4 5 5
13 ADAMEK, ANDRZEJ 11:00     0/1         1 3           3
15 TOMCZYK, DOMINIK 28:00 12 2/3 2/4 2/2 1 4 5     3 1   5 2 9
16 SKIBNIEWSKI, ROBERT 7:00               2         1   1
Team                                
Totals 200:00 75 21/39 6/18 15/26 5 22 27 14 9 14 3 7 24 26 68
        53.8% 33.3% 57.7%
Head coach: URLEP, ANDREJ
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Olympiacos
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 BOUNTOURIS, NIKOLAOS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
6 PAPALOUKAS, THEODOROS 14:00 10 3/5   4/5 1 1 2 2 3 3     2 3 12
7 PAPANIKOLAOU, DIMITRIOS 17:00 2 1/2 0/3   1 4 5 1 1 1 1 1 3 2 3
8 SAVRASENKO, ALEKSEY 18:00 6 2/6   2/4 2 3 5   3 1 2   1 2 10
9 RISACHER, STEPHANE 32:00 7 1/3 1/2 2/4 1 2 3 2   2 2   4 2 5
10 FORD, ALPHONSO 37:00 28 9/18 1/3 7/9 1 2 3 5 3 3   2 2 8 27
11 TOMIC, MILAN 26:00 12 2/3 2/5 2/3   1 1 1         3 3 9
12 NIKAGBATSE, MISAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
13 FEMERLING, PATRICK 19:00 6 3/4     3 4 7       1   4 1 10
14 FORREST, JAMES 26:00 6 3/9     3 4 7 2 1 2 1   5 1 5
15 DE MIGUEL, IGNACIO 11:00 3 0/3   3/4 1 3 4   2 2     2 2 3
Team                                
Totals 200:00 80 24/53 4/13 20/29 13 24 37 13 13 14 7 3 26 24 84
        45.3% 30.8% 69%
Head coach: ZOUROS, ILIAS
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Head Coaches

URLEP, ANDREJ
Idea Slask
I only have good words for my team. They played the best they can by now. Olympiakos, Malaga and Benetton are the favourites of our group. Today Slask played like a year ago, players srtuggled and did everything to do their best. We had some problems on the boards. Slask's players were tired, but I think when new players arrive in Slask our team will be much stronger.
ZOUROS, ILIAS
Olympiacos
We knew that the game would be difficult, but we were well prepared for the game. Having beaten Slask is a great success for us to get a good group position in relation to our rivals. I think that Slask has improved a lot since the last game.

Players

HAWKINS, MICHAEL
Idea Slask
We made a good job. Despite not being favourites we played to Olympiakos as equals. I'm satisfied that we did not give up. Many people before the match thought that we would lose by more than 20 points, however we showed that even with such a roster as we have now we are able to fight with any team in Europe. I'm pretty satisfied of my performance. I really wanted to play a good game because I had played in Olympiakos and there are still some players in the Greek club which played there with me two years ago.
FORD, ALPHONSO
Olympiacos
I'm happy of our victory. We made a very important step in order to get to the next round. We did not underestimate the Polish team. Slask is still a good team even though some players left the team. Besides all games are hard in Euroleague, especially these ones away. I'm satisfied with my scoring, but the most important is that my team has won again.
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