After four difficult years, Olympiacos is back in the European elite. Following last year’s announcement of the retirement of European legend Vassilis Spanoulis, the “Reds” had to rebuild the team from scratch.
Coach Giorgos Bartzokas, the last Euroleague winner coach with Olympiacos, had the task to build a competitive team and Kostas Sloukas was assigned to lead the team to post Spanoulis’ era. Last year was transitional for the Piraeus team, which finished 12th in the standings.
But, Olympiacos was working towards the right direction and they had targeted the playoffs since then.
Even though there were no high expectations for the “Reds” to enter the playoffs, a very impressive start (12-4) set the team early not only as a contender, but also within the top four teams.
Olympiacos then got hit by several Covid-19 cases. They suffered four straight losses, but still kept themselves within the Top 8.
Since then, the team started to roll again securing its playoff spot and with its win against ASVEL last week it also clinched the home-court advantage in the playoffs (18-9).
A win tomorrow against Barcelona may also provide the Piraeus team the third place. Olympiacos has the home-court advantage in the postseason and will try to take advantage of Piece and Friendship Stadim.
The “Reds” are 12-1 at home, where every team struggles scoring just 67,5 points. Even if their opponent is the reigning champion Anadolu Efes or Maccabi Tel-Aviv, within Peace and Friendship stadium the “Reds” fear no one.
This year’s project is already more than a success and their next target is no other than the Final Four. With such performances at home, who would bet against them?
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