SFAIROPOULOS, IOANNIS
Olympiacos Piraeus
"This is a very important win for us. On the road, against a very good and very talented team, a very good offensive team, with a lot of different options to score, especially on its home court. We saw that during the game today. It was important that our defense was very focused on the way Maccabi wants to play, and we did not allow a lot of points for the style of how Maccabi plays, and we controlled the game through our defense. Offensively, we had good ball movement, shared the ball, played a really good team game as we moved the ball until we found the best option to shoot. That is why we have five double-digit scorers, which shows the entire team participated in this win. We knew Maccabi’s problems with injured players. It is tough to manage such a game, not knowing what the roster will be, and knowing that a big part of Maccabi will be absent. That can also turn like a boomerang against you, if players are not focused. But in general, we approached the game with the right mentality; players were ready. The only part of the game I am not happy with is the last five minutes, after the score 59-76. We did not do anything on offense, and bad shot selection led to easy points by Maccabi. I wish good luck to Maccabi. It is too early to discuss the playoffs. We have been going game by game, week by week, and that’s what we will continue doing. We are missing Spanoulis who is our leader. Also Patric Young, who just recovered and he did not have a lot of practices with the team, and I don’t want to put him on the court too early. I want him to be 100 percent ready, and in the next few days he will be that. Spanoulis re-injured his old injury. We will also play him only when he is 100 percent ready."