Barça and Olympiacos are already looking ahead to the decisive fifth match of the Euroleague quarterfinals that will be played next Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. at the Palau in which one team will celebrate qualification for the Final Four in Berlin and the other will mourn its elimination.
Roger Grimau’s team did not measure up in the fourth match that was played on Thursday in Piraeus and of which the azulgranas came out scalded by a 92-58 which is only worth one point. It is the best reading that can be made of a defeat that is difficult to understand.
The other reading is that the former Blaugrana coach Georgios Bartzokas has recovered two vital players throughout this ‘play-off’ who barely had a role in the two Palau games and showed on Thursday that they are already in a position to do a lot of damage to the Barcelona fans.
One is Nikola Milutinov. The Serbian center, who was already the object of Barça’s desire At the beginning of the decade, he had been struggling for three seasons with continuous physical problems derived from the serious knee injury he suffered in the ranks of CSKA Moscow.
Milutinov, another great threat for Barça / EFE
Stuck with an ankle since the beginning of the year, the 2.14 meter center played 5:06 in the first game with three points and one rebound, had 7:50 in the second with only three rebounds and did not play in the third. However, In the fourth he came back on his feet with 8 points, 11 rebounds and a magnificent +18 rating in 22 minutes.
Barztokas thus recovers his triple threat in the paint, since the versatility of Filip Petrusev and the immensity of Moustapha Fall (2.18 meters) combines one of the most decisive pivots of recent times in European basketball. Too bad about the injuries.
The other ‘signing’ has been much more unexpected. El exazulgrana Kostas Papanikolaou He didn’t even travel to Barcelona last week and did not dress on Tuesday in the third game of the series due to physical problems. Few expected him on Thursday, but he reappeared in a big way.
The vehement Papanikolaou is a very complete player / OLYMPIACOS BC
The Greek international hammered the Blaugrana hoop with three triples in a row (he missed another three) and helped as always in the ‘paint’ to finish with nine points, six rebounds and a +13 rating. The power forward is pure character and Barça will have to tie him very short.
2024-05-04 12:03:10
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