This is how Olympiacos will beat Real

The big time is coming. THE Olympic is one step away from conquering the top of Europe, but in front of him projects the high obstacle of Real Madrid. The “red and whites” seemed to have their own way against the “queen”, winning twice this year and in different types of games, one with a high score in Madrid (87-89) and one with a weapon in their defense in SEF (73 -60).

The sport-fm.gr records the… must for Olympiakos, in order to dramatically increase its chances of lifting the fourth European trophy in its history.

Wear the “Scarecrow”

THE Eddie Tavares is Real’s point of reference in defense and attack. In the playoffs with Partizan and in the semi-final, he scored 17 points with 72% on two-pointers and 79.3% on shots, along with 9 rebounds and 2.4 blocks on average. With him on the floor, the Madrid players are at +13.4 points per 100 possessions. So, needless to say, Olympiacos will have to do everything they can to wear him down. With a foul it is difficult, since it does not leave much room for an opponent to attack him on equal footing. But it should wear him down in energy.

If Tavares is anchored to the racket, he will continue to play the role of the “scarecrow” and make it difficult for the team with the highest percentage of two points in the Euroleague. That’s why the “red and white” will be needed quick movement of the ball and movement away from it, to force the defense to move and with it the fear of Real. This, in addition to pulling Tavares even a little away from his “kingdom”, will force him to consume strength. In the absence of Poirier and with Randolph and Cornelli not being able to fill his shoes, Tavares will logically not play less than 30 minutes and those will become less quality if he suffers from the attack of Olympiakos.

Attacking their guards

Real may be the second-worst defense in the EuroLeague, behind only Olympiakos, allowing 110.6 points per 100 possessions, but that’s more due to the size advantage they have against all of their opponents. Or rather that… it had, since the absences of Yabusele, Dek and Poirier reduce this dynamic. Unlike the front line, Real is quite weak in the peripheral defense. The first zone of the back is full of weak links, such as Rodriguez, Williams-Goss, and Musa, while Rudy, Yule and Kozer now play more with experience than legs. Apart from Hanga, there is no player who can put enough pressure on Olympiakos’ peripherals, therefore Sloukas, Walkup, Kanaan, McKissick and Larentzakis should become aggressive, create cracks and cause imbalance in the rear guard with pick-and-roll or “hit” in close out situations.

The ball to Sasha

THE Sasha Vezenkov pulled off a big push in the playoffs and semi-final against very athletic opponents in the ‘4’ position, just now he has before him a glorious field of glory for the final. Without Yabusele and Dek, Real looks “naked” at the power forward position. Chus Mateo enlisted in the semi-final with their Barcelona Mario Hezonia and Eli Ediage who did a very good job of neutralizing Nikola Mirotic, but the former doesn’t have the size and the latter the experience to give the MVP as much trouble. Olympiacos should “feed” its main attacking midfielder, who has proven that he can quietly, without abusing efforts and with minimal dribbles, irreparably hurt the opposing defense.

The three-pointer will make his life easier

Wish it would be a project for Olympiakos a good percentage behind 6.75m. Possibly better than the 36.8% he had in the semi-final against Monaco. As long as Piraeus misses, Real will… challenge them and wait for them closer to the basket, where the form of Tavares dominates. However, Giorgos Bartzokas’ team managed to beat Real twice this year with poor percentages from long range: 6/21 (28.6%) in Madrid and 6/26 (23.1%) in SEF. Think how much less difficult his life will be with a near or even above 35% 3-point shooting percentage.

Pressure on the ball

A key concern for Olympiakos will be to put a lot of pressure on the ball. Against him this time he will not find the very athletic and explosive Americans of Monaco, but players who play more with their minds and quality. With hands everywhere and a willingness to sacrifice, the “red and whites” will not only lead to more mistakes, ensure possible conditions of surprise and offer worse quality shots to the opponent, but they will also cut off Eddie Tavares’ power. Leading the way is the play of SEF, where the Real giant started with 8 points in the first period, but then got few passes in places where he could become a threat and finished with 12 points.

Rebound protection

Real is one of the worst teams in opponents’ mistakes. He leads them to just 10.9 turnovers per game (second to last in the entire EuroLeague) and commits just 5.7 steals per game (eighth in the competition), areas in which Olympiacos are respectively second (13.6 opponent turnovers per game) and first (7.5 steals per game). In order to win the battle of possession, Giorgos Bartzokas’ team will need to protect their defensive rebound. After all, a defense is only good when it is completed by collecting the “garbage”. Good box outs to Eddie Tavares are necessary for Madrid not to win additional possessions.