Katsikaris’s Bilbao thrashes Olympiakos
Olympiakos let its fans down suffering a 15-point loss at debutant Bilbao on October 21 in its opening game for the Euroleague.
Bilbao, coached by Greek Fotis Katsikaris, won 76-61 for its maiden victory in Europe?s top club competition.
The Basques were dominant throughout the game, leading 18-11 at the end of the first period and 37-31 at half-time.
A below-par Olympiakos with Lazaros Papadopoulos and Vassilis Spanoulis underperforming, only had Martynas Gecevicius (15 points) and Kyle Hines (14) in a good evening.
Pero Antic did play for 16 minutes, but his injury in Thursday?s training meant he only got to score four points and collect two rebounds.
Greek international Costas Vassiliadis scored nine points for Bilbao.
The A1 championship is starting on October 22 and will continue normally the following weekend after ESAKE reached an agreement with a marketing company regarding television rights.
Along with the sponsorship deal with state gaming company OPAP, each of the league?s 11 teams (apart from Panathinaikos and Olympiakos who have made separate deals) will get a minimum of 450,000 euros this season.
