A trip to Spain in the opening week of Euroleague saw Olympiacos split their two games. A tight win over Baskonia was followed by being outsmarted by Real Madrid. What was lacking was the one thing few expected, an understanding of their own identity.
Let’s get the important bit out of the way. This is the first week of the season. Most of the players are barely back from EuroBasket. Expecting cohesion right now is asking too much of anyone in Euroleague. That said, Olympiacos arguably looked more out of sorts than expected in their first couple of outings.
The ball is meant to go in the basket
The second half performance from the Reds in Madrid on Thursday could partially be put down to fatigue. The roster had a shorter camp with the full side than usual, like everyone else, and starting Euroleague with two road games isn’t ideal in such circumstances.
That being said, with just 24 second half points it feels like a lot to attribute to fatigue. It was all too easy for Real Madrid to limit Sasha Vezenkov’s shooting looks at will while Tyler Dorsey, Saben Lee, Thomas Walkup, and Evan Fournier all had issues either getting good looks or getting any at all.
The issue was there to be seen when Real were struggling. Had you kept your eye off the scorebug for the first half, you’d likely have guessed Olympiacos led by at least twice as much as the 6 point margin they held at the break. When Los Blancos struggled, the Reds failed to really punish them.
Who’s got the ball?
This was the big question throughout the clash with Real Madrid. Thomas Walkup had taken the creative load in the win over Baskonia but his primary role is to lead the Olympiacos defensive game. Walkup is meant to be a supporting creator not the primary.
That brings us to ask who is taking charge in that respect. Saben Lee looks to be the man expected to but that’s limiting him. Lee’s best game is when he is score-first. Tyler Dorsey certainly can play that role but he’s clearly being focused on as a scorer too.
In this outing it was Fournier who was nearest to a primary creator but this didn’t feel like creation by committee. If they want to go inside out, then it’s on Vezenkov but his biggest asset is how few touches he needs to dominate. The whole time I felt lost looking for the person steering the offensive game.
A flex-approach can totally work here but it needs to be far more coherent than what the Reds have shown this week. Making it up on the fly is oddly easy for opposing defenders to read as it tends to lead to more stuttered offensive outings.
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It’s meant to be an asset not a crutch
The beauty of the Georgios Bartzokas approach to basketball is that it is modular. While that means lots of iso plays and room for guys to call their own shots, it involves an assemblage of pieces that are easy to move in and out for quick shifts in focus.
We even saw that with the limited use of Kostas Antetokounmpo against Real Madrid. While only on the floor for 6 minutes, the athletic shift he brought changed the dynamic considerably from Nikola Militunov. In turn, the big Serbian was able to shift matters again when back at the 5.
Radical shifts in style with simple rotational moves are great. It’s just not meant to be what a team leans on. It’s meant to boost matters, to enable the core to have options when something doesn’t work. The abundance of options we have come to expect from Olympiacos over the past couple of seasons simply weren’t on show in this game.
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Obviously, don’t panic
I get many things wrong, it’s the nature of sports journalism. Still, I’m pretty sure most of you reading will agree that Olympiacos will probably figure this out. The question is what pieces are going to be shifted and where. A creation by committee approach is likely but probably one that is more defined. This means big questions will be asked of both Lee and Dorsey.
While Nikola Militunov has been a clear positive through the first two games, that’s more of a reason to not push him too hard. It’s October and he’s already averaging over 26 minutes a game. Working on the rotation at 5 is going to be vital so that he can stay fresh for when him playing 26 minutes or more feels a necessity.
As for the rest. It’s don’t panic stuff. Vezenkov has kinks to work through that he can refine, the 3 and 4 positions seem to be finding their rotational balance. As long as Bartzokas keeps Evan Fournier happy, and vice versa, everything seen in these two games looks fixable.
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