Olympiacos rallied past Armani Milano last week and clinched its third straight EuroLeague win. This victory helped the “Reds” improve to 15-9 and make another step towards the home-court advantage.
In addition, the Greek giants swept the season series with the Italians and now have the tie-breaker.
This is no small feat for a team that had to change its structure following the retirement of the most influential player of the past decade, Vasilis Spanoulis. Coach Bartzokas’ second stint set the beginning of a new era for the club. And now we clearly see an Olympiacos team with a different game orientation, which plays in a whole new level.
The Piraeus team had an excellent start to the season (12-5), only to be disturbed by several Covid-19 cases on the majority of the players. Now things are back on track, the team is bonding again and the three wins in a row is the clear result of the work that is being done in Piraeus.
Claiming the Greek Cup after 11 years against Panathinaikos last weekend gave an extra boost to the staff and players ahead of the upcoming tough schedule in the EuroLeague.
Should Olympiacos keep the pace, then the team has serious chances to clinch the home-court advantage in the postseason. This is the first time since 2017 that the Piraeus team sets a clear goal and this is none other than the Final Four.
It surely is interesting to see the back-to-back EuroLeague champions (2012, 2013) being competitive again and fighting for their fourth championship.
The fact that they are doing so right after Spanoulis’ retirement can only confirm that Olympiacos has the will, the funds and the know-how to create competitive teams and remain within the European basketball elite for the years to come.
A fourth straight win on Friday’s match against Bayern Munich will confirm that Olympiacos is here to stay and knows how to get the job done.
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