Sasha Vezenkov: 'All of us have faith that we'll win Game 3' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Olympiacos BC Credit Olympiacos BC

AS Monaco crushed hosts Olympiacos Piraeus,96-72, stealing the home-court advantage from the Greek team ahead of next week's doubleheader in the Principality.

Player of the Game EFF 23 Danilo Andjusic Points 19 Accuracy 5-7 Rebounds 5 Assists 1

For the Reds, who have never reclaimed the advantage after losing Game 2 at the Peace and Friendship Stadium, that development brings back some bad memories, both old and recent.

In the 2011 playoffs, Olympiacos demolished Montepaschi Siena 89-41 in Game 1, only to be easily beaten 48 hours later (66-82) and before dropping both games in Tuscany. In 2018, Zalgiris Kaunas escaped Piraeus in overtime, in Game 2 again. In Lithuania, Olympiacos never came close to a comeback. Both series had the same ending, 1-3.

If the third time's the charm, the No.2 seeded team in the competition's regular season can rightfully hope that they'll be able to at least return the Monegasques the favor next week. In any case, that's what both Kostas Papanikolaou and Sasha Vezenkov believe.

"We still have two games there. We have to play as Olympiacos, and if they are such tough guys, capable of beating us twice, then they will deserve to go to the Final Four. We have to play harder because we didn't do that today," Papanikolaou told Greek broadcaster NOVASPORTS.

For the record, Monaco have already blown out the Greeks twice this season while scoring over 90 points both times.

The 32-year-old forward was actually playing for Olympiacos when both upsets took place in 2011 and 2018.

Asked whether some players thought they were going to have an easy night because of how the first game ended (71-54 for the hosts) and Olympiacos's early double-digit lead in Game 2, Papanikolaou said that would be impermissible.

Olympiacos Piraeus / Schedule

Olympiakos Piraeus Monaco Basket71-54 Olympiakos Piraeus Monaco Basket72-96 Monaco Basket Olympiakos PiraeusWed19:00 Monaco Basket Olympiakos Piraeus04-2919:00

"If that's what happened, it's a big mistake. It means that they've been to many Final Fours. But that's not the case. We're all very hungry, and there's a long way to go."

According to the Greek international, Olympiacos lost the momentum in the second quarter because of some turnovers that gave easy points to Monaco and boosted their morale.

"But even in the first quarter, when we started well, we were not hustling as we had done in the first game. That's key in a playoff series," he further commented.

"We started very well on both ends but lost concentration, giving possessions away. Then, we could not turn it around because Monaco played well offensively and according to the talent they have," Sasha Vezenkov added.

Olympiacos' first scorer in the regular season tuned in with Papanikolaou while essentially expressing his disbelief in the Reds' possibility of crashing out of the Final Four.

"That's sports. If Monaco are that good and can beat us in three straight games, they will deservedly qualify for the Final Four," the Bulgarian forward pointed out.

"We need to improve defensively, play for 40 minutes with discipline and not like we did today, keep good spacing and have better options on offense. Of course, we can play much better. Monaco don't have a home court like Maccabi, for instance, but they're playing well there," he argued.

"I and all of us have faith that we will win the third game," Vezenkov concluded.

Papanikolaou was one of the players that took the hard task of guarding Mike James, the man responsible for two out of three all-time biggest defeats for Olympiacos in Piraeus in recent years.

As a player of AX Armani Exchange Milan, James had triumphed at the Peace and Friendship Stadium when the Italian team blew out the hosts 99-75 back in 2018.

But that was just a regular-season game. This time, it was the playoffs, and James went off for 23 points, of which 21 came in the second half.

Papanikolaou knows that the former Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns guard is a very gifted scorer.

"Congratulations to Thomas Walkup and to the other guys who have guarded him so far," he added.

"But Monaco built their lead in the second quarter without him. He is a big part of their team, but they have talent, players like Bacon, and Ouattara, who scored crucial three-pointers. Danilo Andjusic, who played in the French league last year, came out of nowhere and scored 19 points".

On a night when nothing worked for the three-time EuroLeague champs, defense and offense were two sides of the same coin.

"In basketball, usually when everything goes well on defense, it goes well on offense and vice versa," Papanikolaou noted.

"We didn't do the little things that can take an attacking player out of his comfort zone. As long as we allowed it, it was difficult to react because they were on a great night offensively."

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