Barcelona secured a dominant home victory against Maccabi Tel Aviv in the previous EuroLeague round, winning 100-71. This win helped them break a disappointing run of two consecutive losses in Europe’s top basketball competition. Prior to this game, they had suffered defeats against Baskonia (88-86) and Asvel (100-94), both of which were played on the road. With this result, Barcelona now holds a 14-11 record, placing them 8th in the standings.
The recent struggles of Barcelona were highlighted when they conceded 103 points to Manresa at home over the weekend, prompting concerns among fans and raising speculation about a potential coaching change for Joan Pennaroya. The team had lost three of their last four games, with their only win during this period coming in overtime against Murcia.
The crisis within the Catalan club is undeniable, but their schedule has offered some relief. They enjoyed a double round of home games in the EuroLeague, with Maccabi Tel Aviv being their first opponent. The Israeli team is enduring a forgettable season, making them an ideal matchup for Barcelona. However, it’s worth noting that Maccabi recently defeated Crvena zvezda and pushed Real Madrid to their limits, so Barcelona couldn’t afford to take them lightly.
The visitors managed to stay competitive until halftime, but Barcelona delivered a stellar second-half performance, scoring 58 points and outscoring Maccabi by 23 points in that period. Kevin Punter shone with 28 points, while four other Barcelona players also reached double figures. The team excelled in both two-point (22/35) and three-point shooting (16/35), outrebounded their opponents by five, and committed six fewer turnovers.
This season, Barcelona ranks 6th in pace in the EuroLeague and 8th in offensive rating. They are the third-highest-scoring team, averaging 87.0 points per game, and rank 5th in two-point shooting percentage (57.6%) and 6th in three-point shooting percentage (38.4%). Notably, they lead the league in assists per game, despite dealing with injuries to their point guards. However, they struggle in rebounding, ranking near the bottom in that category.
Barcelona now faces a formidable challenge as they host EuroLeague leaders Olympiacos, who are in excellent form. The home team will need to devise a defensive strategy to contain Sasha Vezenkov, while their centers must step up to limit Olympiacos’ dominance on the boards. On the offensive end, Olympiacos is likely to adjust their defensive approach to neutralize Kevin Punter, so he will need to remain patient and focused, even if it means taking fewer shots.
Providing a compelling performance from Piraeus the team secured an important road victory versus Paris by a score of 90-73. The team won its second consecutive EuroLeague championship following the victory while establishing their position as number one on the standings with 18-7. The team boasts a successful streak of winning 16 times in its last 18 competitions.
The coach Bartzokas machine needed time to warm up before starting its automatic surge that became impossible to stop. Olympiacos shows themselves as the most harmonized and balanced team in EuroLeague right now and finishing first in regular season standings should come as no big surprise.
The team proved its dominance against Paris on the road because multiple top-caliber teams including Panathinaikos and Real Madrid were defeated there. Olympiacos launched their first quarter offensive surge to take a 30-15 advantage which they sustained through the entire match. During the last period they managed to combat the home team's offensive run while maintaining an overwhelmingly dominant victory. On the opposing team Sasha Vezenkov produced his second scoring performance of 23 points with 6 defensive rebounds.
Aside from Fournier's 18 points the team received additional 16 points from Williams-Goss. Karakas does not lack depth in quality substitutes nor experienced players. Sources indicate Olympiacos will accept their third big man Moses Wright onto the team during this season's closing phase even though experts previously doubted this move.
The managed game style adopted by Olympiacos will showcase their interior offensive talents because it controls the tempo of the match. The visitors will give everything to control the boards throughout the game. Kevin Punter serves as their defensive priority but their solid perimeter defenders can provide defense against him through rotational play.
Olympiacos is the squad with the highest offensive rating (123.1), the highest points per game (87.8), and the second-best three-point shooting percentage (38.8%) in the EuroLeague. They are in the center of the defensive rating rankings, so maybe they could do a little better defensively.
It's crucial to remember that they have experienced serious problems with injuries to their big players, especially their centers, who are very good at protecting the rim. Additionally, it appears that this team has a well-defined hierarchy, making it obvious who has what amount of gaming flexibility. They have a number of excellent players who are highly useful in close games.
They have a lot of talented players on the guard positions who can step up and play well in a supporting role. They appear to be focused solely on winning the EuroLeague.
By a score of 95-74, Olympiacos defeated Barcelona at home in the first round of the EuroLeague. Barcelona won 2-0 in the regular season last year, but Olympiacos exacted revenge in the EuroLeague quarterfinals, winning 3-2 and moving on.
