EUROLEAGUE FINAL FOUR 2013 (Men) Olympiacos

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Euroleague Final Four 2013 Olympiacos

Team Characteristics

After the David versus Goliath historic win against CSKA Moscow in the previous Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four the season before in Istanbul, the team was playing all season long with extreme confidence. The player that displayed the confidence the most besides the commonly knows stars of this team was Papanikolaou. He played consistently all season long on offense and defense, adding to this some game winning moves. This team became the back to back champion of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague due to their group dynamics, work habits and mental strength.

Transition

They are the masters of the primary and secondary break. They start off with strong defensive efforts and initiate many primary breaks off steals. With Spanoulis or Hines both will look to go coast to coast. Passing is their primary idea in the primary break, followed by the first trailer options and even with continuations into the secondary break. In secondary breaks they look for the early pick & roll or even for double pick & rolls. They can execute with Spanoulis creating off the two man game but they are even more dangerous when including the third or fourth man into the pick & roll with players like Antic and Printezis just waiting outside to shoot or attack the basket.

Transition - Fast Break

Transition - Secondary Break

Offensive Tendencies

Every player is attacking his opponent in 1 vs 1, even their centers attack face to the basket from any position. They play pick & roll in all variations involving two, three or four players. Pick & pop is also a dangerous option they use especially with Antic on the court. They could be considered the pick & roll team since they use so many re-picks and continuous pick & rolls. They don’t run long sets and entries virtually don’t exist. They are not using many off balls screens, but on ball screens are strong, and great in terms of timing and positioning.

Set Plays

Forward Isolation: This set is mostly played for Perperoglou and Printezis. The entry is a set of cross screens and mostly the ball gets directly into the low post. If this happens all other players clear out and keep good spacing for any kick out pass. If the ball can’t get into the low post the high post will be filled and the ball will be distributed from there with a continuation of pick & rolls initiated.

Horns with continuous pick & roll: Maybe their most instinctive set that all players feel most comfortable with. The brain that decides the flow of this set is of course Spanoulis, but all others seem to harmonize with his decisions he makes. All centers have great vision and also timing. Combine those with great shooting and penetration abilities, and you don’t need much more to score.

Zone Offense

They only play use the ball screen in zone offense and align in the weak spots of the zone. They also have several sets for press breakers and traps. Every player is willing to attack the zone and is ready to kick out the pass and swing passes are very often seen. They are a nightmare for every team that decides to play the zone defense or any alternative kind of defense.

OB Plays

The will run a screening series involving all players. They will look for back or front door cuts to execute or the 1 vs. 1 game. If all that doesn't work they will stop the set and go for a pick & roll. If Spanoulis is the inbounder he will receive a down screen and then run a pick & roll set.

Defensive Characteristics

They are very strong in defending penetrations and contesting shots. They are not really a team that is fighting for position in the low post, but once the center picks up the dribble they help out strong and all players correct they defensive positions in order to close the angles for passing. They are very good in stealing off those situations. They are very strong in transition defense and rebounding is a masterpiece of this team.

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