10.09.2011

Seventh Heaven For Unbeaten Russia

Turning Point: Greece began to build up some momentum towards the end of the third quarter having been on the ropes. However, a big three-pointer by Vitaliy Fridzon stopped a potential slide by Russia at a crucial period as he handed his team an eight point lead to take into the final ten minutes.

Game Hero: Timofey Mozgov claimed 19 points off 7-of-8 floor shooting (88%) and added 5 boards and 3 blocked shots.

Stats Don't Lie: Greece hit their first five shots from downtown - then made only one of their subsequent 16 attempts.

Russia extended their perfect tournament record to seven games with victory against Greece, who dropped to third in Group F.

The 83-67 success was mainly due to an impressive second half performance and a more powerful Russian frontcourt as Coach Blatt and his players continue vying for top spot in the group.

With Greece edging a tight first quarter 16-15, the teams continued matching each other during most of the second quarter, step for step.

The game had an enjoyable flow and a nice range of play both inside and outside. Greece were continuing their hot perimeter shooting from their previous game of Slovenia.

Antonios Fotsis, Mike Bramos and Nikos Zisis all scored from range to briefly open up some tangible daylight for the first time, at 38-33.

Russia meanwhile were looking after the ball well and getting more joy under the basket through Mozgov and had Khryapa also on good shooting form. Russia produced seven points in a row to regain the lead through a big Mozgov dunk.

A last second lay-up by the equally impressive Aleksey Shved meant Russia was 42-39 in front at the end of an entertaining first couple of quarters.

They still had the momentum when the teams returned from the locker rooms and quickly doubled their lead but generally both defences were on top shortly after the break.

However Russia made a move and had Greek play-caller Ilias Zouros calling time out with his team 58-49 behind and their offence beginning to show some cracks.

It was a smart move since his team responded well with a 6-2 run but a big three-ball by Vitaliy Fridzon in the corner kept Greece at arm's length as Russia kept their eight-point advantage at the start of the fourth.

Having extended the margin to double digits, Russia rarely looked in danger of losing their grip as Greece tried but failed to regain the initiative.

10.09.2011

Quotes Greece vs. Russia

Russia Forward Victor Khryapa:
"We did a better job in the second half and that's what got us the win and a 16 point gap at the buzzer. We played better defense, shot the ball better but I think the most important thing we did was on the rebounds. We grabbed 13 more rebounds than Greece and that was an important key. We have a team of 12 players and all of them are in more or less equal level so every game someone else can step up and make the difference. That's very important for us. Our next game is against F.Y.R. of Macedonia and the winner will win the first spot in the group. They made great results so far and beat many teams, so nobody is thinking they are a weak team anymore. We'll come as usual to win."

Greece Forward Michail Bramos:
"We didn't do a good job on defense in the second half. We allowed them to score easy points and that made a big difference. We can't allow easy baskets because we win with our defense. Russia scored 83 points and that's a lot more than we should afford. We need play better defense than we did in the second half if we want to win against teams in the level of Russia."

Russia Head Coach David Blatt:
"I thought we played our best game of the tournament tonight. After 15 minutes, we went back to playing our best defense and we also played a great offensive game also. We moved the ball and took care of the basketball. We played together and found the right solutions at the right times. We were consistent."

Greece Head Coach Ilias Zouros:
"Congratulations to Russia. We played extremely bad. Our defence was a big zero. If we continue to play like this, we have no chance. By playing defence we will arrive in Kaunas but today it was like we did not want to play."