At the Peace and Friendship stadium, Olympiacos crushed Jayson Granger’s Baskonia at the start of a new Euroleague season.
In a match corresponding to the first day of the most important club tournament in the old continent, Olympiacos and Baskonia faced each other. The former came from beating Iraklis for the round of 16 of the Greek Cup, while the latter came from falling on their visit to Joventut for the third date of the ACB League. Those led by Georgios Bartzokas took to the field with Tyler Dorsey, Thomas Walkup, Kostas Papanikolaou, Aleksander Vezenkov and Moustapha Fall. For his part, those led by Montenegrin Dusko Ivanovic began with Jayson Granger, Vanja Marinkovic, Simone Fontecchio, Steven Enoch and Matt Costello.
The match played at the Estadio de la Paz y la Amistad presented a very interesting start, in which both teams tried to capture their main offensive attributes in the rectangle. The home team hurt with Sasha Vezenkov’s mid-range shots, while the visiting team hurt in the paint with North American Steven Enoch. With the passing of the minutes, the Greeks were taking control of the game, being important for this the figure of one of their references, Kostas Papanikolaou. Between the closing of the first quarter and the start of the second, with a good contribution in attack from Tyler Dorsey, added to what Vezenkov continued to do, those of Athens managed to open a 20-point lead (38-18). The Basques did not find defensive solutions, while on the other side they depended excessively on what Matt Costello could generate in the low post.
At the beginning of the second half, the owner of the house was in front of the electronic in figures from 47 to 22. In the first bars of the complement, a process much more similar to that of the beginning of the game could be observed, although the score was already clearly inclined in favor of Oly. Those from Vitoria-Gasteiz sought to reduce the difference, having as their main offensive exponent the Lithuanian Rokas Giedraitis, well accompanied in the generation by Jayson Granger. However, those led by Georgios Bartzokas remained very firm, thanks to the good time management by Kostas Sloukas. Much of the second half was to spare, therefore both coaches gave their main figures a rest, thinking about the games to come. Finally, Olympiacos won by 75-50 and thus started a new edition of the Euroleague on the right foot.
In the winner, Aleksander Vezenkov stood out, scoring 16 points, seconded by Moustapha Fall with 11 points. On the losing side, Rokas Giedraitis finished as the top scorer with 16 points.
Uruguayan point guard Jayson Granger scored 2 points (0/4 triples and 1/2 doubles), captured 2 rebounds, distributed 4 assists and lost 6 balls in the 18:29 minutes that he remained on the court, for a total rating of -1.
The next commitment of our compatriot’s team in the international tournament will be in a week, when as a local they will have to face Olimpia Milano. While due to the local competition, it will be active again on Sunday, visiting Manresa.
Photo: baskonia.elcorreo.com