Olympiacos vs Montepaschi Siena Line-Ups, Preview, Picks 18th January 2013 Two
of the top dogs in Group F square off in Greece on Friday night when
Olympiacos Piraeus hosts Montepaschi Siena at the Peace and Friendship
Stadium. Defending champion Olympiacos is only 1-2 in the Top 16, but
still undefeated at home. Siena is 3-0 and a second road win would put
it firmly in the drivers’ seat. The teams have played each other in
the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, with Siena winning 3-1 in 2011 and
the Reds by the same score last season. Olympiacos won three of the
four games played in Greece in those series.
Two names come to the forefront when speaking about Olympiacos and Montepaschi: Vassilis Spanoulis and Bobby Brown. The former is the champs’ undeniable leader, top scorer and best playmaker. The latter fits the same role for Siena and leads the Euroleague in scoring and is ranked this in assists. Despite their similarities, Spanoulis and Brown may not guard each other often in the game, but they will always be near one another and their performances will be critical to the outcome. Brown will likely see Evangelos Mantzaris and Acie Law on him defensively, while Siena is expected to send Matt Janning and Daniel Hackett to stop Spanoulis. Both teams also have great shooters at the forward spots that help open the floor, Kristjan Kangur for the visitors and Kostas Papanikolaou for the hosts. Montepaschi’s frontcourt duo of Thomas Ress at center and Viktor Sanikidze has been red hot lately and together with Ben Eze make the Italian champs tough inside. The Reds have answers with a long and deep frontcourt featuring Josh Powell and Giorgi Shermadini as traditional centers and Kyle Hines, Pero Antic and Georgios Printezis too. Hines particularly caused Siena trouble last season, but Coach Luca Banchi’s squad has a largely different rotation now. Papanikolaou and Stratos Perperoglou could play big roles for the hosts at small forward against David Moss.
Montepaschi is hands down the top offensive team in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague this season, but there is no doubt to Olympiacos’s ability to match them, especially at home. Ultimately, while many other players are likely to have important roles, the keys to the game rest with Spanoulis and Brown. If either team can find the recipe to slow down the other, it would become the instant favorite to secure a valuable win.
Two names come to the forefront when speaking about Olympiacos and Montepaschi: Vassilis Spanoulis and Bobby Brown. The former is the champs’ undeniable leader, top scorer and best playmaker. The latter fits the same role for Siena and leads the Euroleague in scoring and is ranked this in assists. Despite their similarities, Spanoulis and Brown may not guard each other often in the game, but they will always be near one another and their performances will be critical to the outcome. Brown will likely see Evangelos Mantzaris and Acie Law on him defensively, while Siena is expected to send Matt Janning and Daniel Hackett to stop Spanoulis. Both teams also have great shooters at the forward spots that help open the floor, Kristjan Kangur for the visitors and Kostas Papanikolaou for the hosts. Montepaschi’s frontcourt duo of Thomas Ress at center and Viktor Sanikidze has been red hot lately and together with Ben Eze make the Italian champs tough inside. The Reds have answers with a long and deep frontcourt featuring Josh Powell and Giorgi Shermadini as traditional centers and Kyle Hines, Pero Antic and Georgios Printezis too. Hines particularly caused Siena trouble last season, but Coach Luca Banchi’s squad has a largely different rotation now. Papanikolaou and Stratos Perperoglou could play big roles for the hosts at small forward against David Moss.
Montepaschi is hands down the top offensive team in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague this season, but there is no doubt to Olympiacos’s ability to match them, especially at home. Ultimately, while many other players are likely to have important roles, the keys to the game rest with Spanoulis and Brown. If either team can find the recipe to slow down the other, it would become the instant favorite to secure a valuable win.
