CSKA passes the Olympiakos test!

Olymiakos (Greece) vs CSKA: 77-79

An away game in Athens against Olympiakos is a serious test for a team which has been playing together for lest than a half a year. Furthermore, the Greek team gives the has it in for the Army team. First of all, the head coach of the red and white, Slobodan (or in Greek, Lefteris) Subotic thinks that CSKA one the game in Moscow only because of the officiating. Secondly, there is the recent transfer of former Olympiakos player Aleksey Savrasenko to the Army club. Lastly, in recent years the two teams have formed a relationship which one could hardly call friendly.

“Why, every time I come to Greece, do the officials have it in for me?” asked CSKA center Victor Alexander rhetorically on the team bus after the game. The American has plenty of reasons to come to such a conclusion. In the 2000-01 season, his Tau team had to replay its Euroleague semifinal game with AEK because the Greek club hit a game-winning basket after the buzzer, and the officials decided to count it. In the league offices the fairness was confirmed. By the way, Alexander had to whisper. At the time of incident in question, Dusan Ivkovic was the AEK coach.

This time around the CSKA head coach had reasons to take issue with the officiating. If the opening minutes turned out to be in favor of CSKA - 11-6 after an Alexander free-through with 4:21 left in the first quarter, then the end of the period got worse and worse for the Army club. The just-recovered-from-injury forward Darius Songaila and Center Aleksander Bashminov picked up three fouls a piece, and both players’ opponent – Spaniard Ignacio de Miguel - went to the foul line eight times (connecting on five of them). This presented a problem in the paint. With all his experience, Victor Alexander alone could hardly hold out for 30 minutes against his opponent’s superior strength, according to the condition that almost every matchup was not in CSKA’s favor. Honestly speaking, I’ve never seen so many fouls on shots as CSKA racked up in this game.

Olympiakos grabbed the initiative in this quarter (with 3:46 remaining in the second quarter the Greeks led by 9 points). Songaila and Bashminov each picked up their fourth fouls. Ivkovic’s standard move - using the two point-guards Holden and Papaloukas in order to take control of the game – was not effective, as the Greek, having just entered the game, was very nervous. You can understand him. A good half of the screaming Olympiakos fans were shouting insults at the former guard for their club. The unhappy situation, however, was eased a bit by Panov and Chatzivrettas – 40-37 in favor of Olympiakos at the half.

CSKA began the second half well. Sure Songail and Bashminov were forced to sit on the bench. Losing players to foul trouble in a game like this is a true waste. But Alexander and Panov filled in on defense, and Papaloukas found his groove on offense. However, as soon as the Army team went ahead (45-44), Olympiakos dropped in two 3-pointers: one from Harrisis and one from Evans. Then Demarco Johnson scored two points, with Alexander and Panov each picking up their second fouls. As a result, Olypmiakos led 54-45 with 5:04 left in the third quarter, and Ivkovic put Songaila back on the floor. The Lithuanian played outstanding the rest of the quarter. But with 1.8 seconds left in the period he picked up his 5th foul. And once again it was an offensive foul. Interesting short amount of time remaining, Olympiakos not only unbounded the ball, but red and white guard Milan Tomic had time to shoot, but also to have the shot blocked by Viktor Khryapa, get it back, and hand it off to a teammate for a basket and a 61-54 lead.

Two difficult baskets by Holden and one by Alexander in the fourth quarter forced Olympiakos to take a time out with the score 64-60. But Subotic, it seems, was a little too late. CSKA found a second win and began to play confidently. After the 5th fouls by Alexander and Bashminov, not even the impartial officials could slow down CSKA. In the last four minutes Olympiakos sent Nikos Chatzivrettas to the foul line four times. He missed only one, and it was with 13 seconds left in the game. The final score 79-77 in favor of CSKA. Victory!


POST-GAME

“I can’t say that CSKA showed its best play today, even if we beat a serious opponent in a tough game,” said CSKA head coach Dusan Ivkovic after the game. “There are two reasons for this: first, we played our last official game more than two weeks ago - December 22 against UNIKS. That’s a long break and it had to play a factor. Of course, we tried to compensate for the break in the Superleague and Euroleague by playing friendly games, but those can’t replace the atmosphere of a really league game. Secondly, several of the calls by the officials in this game against Olympiakos were difficult to understand. The fouls that our players picked up in the first half really hurt our team play. Judge for yourself: Bashminov and Songaila each picked up four personal fouls in the first 20 minutes. And we played the rest of the game without three players. Another one of our big players was in foul trouble - American center Victor Alexander. I’m thankful to my team for the character and strength that it showed in the most important moments. Thanks to this we won the game. But our main goal - to play well as a team – didn’t really pan out against Olympiakos.”

- Did he atmosphere created by the Olympiakos fans affect the game?

“No. We were all expecting it. Honestly speaking, I don’t even pay attention to such things any more. I was asked by local journalists how I feel for some dislike actions from the fans? To be honest. I didn't hear it. Maybe the fans’ behavior affected only Papaloukas. They were on him most of all, and for that reason he was nervous in the beginning. But in the end he played a great game.”