How could Fenerbahce beat Olympiacos? / News - Basketnews.com

BasketNews Expert Augustas Suliauskas previews the Olympiacos-Fenerbahce series, arguing that the Turkish powerhouse has some weapons against Bartzokas' squad, like hunting specific matchups. However, will it be enough?

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The 1-8 matchup in these EuroLeague playoffs will see the best regular season team, Olympiacos Piraeus, meeting one of the most inconsistent ones of the season, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul.

Georgios Bartzokas' squad demolished Dimitris Itoudis' roster twice this year, winning by large margins. The second quarter of both games saw the red-and-whites having ridiculous +30 and +26 leads.

Is a sweep around the corner? Can we seriously consider a repeat of the story three more times? Olympiacos have many advantages, as we will see in this tactical breakdown, but we can't underestimate the fact that key players were missing in both head-to-head matchups in the regular season.

So how should Fenerbahce approach this series? Where should Olympiacos put the most pressure? Here are 10 key things I think will influence this series the most.

The Calathes effect & Olympiacos defense

I believe at least once in your life, you have heard a saying that playoffs are all about matchup hunting and exposing the opponents' weaknesses to extreme levels. Expect Nick Calathes to be tested once again. His 3-point shooting remains a question mark at 34%.

The way Olympiacos play pick-and-roll defense, Fenerbahce will definitely have enough attempts from three.

They pack the driving lanes by stunting hard, even from one pass away, and Moustapha Fall is there to protect it in case you pass through it. The fewer layups, the better - Olympiacos rank #17 in the 3P ratio allowed, meaning that against them, teams tend to attempt more threes and fewer twos.

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