Olympiacos
Sheridan Hoops: Let’s talk about what you did against Olympiacos. Coming in, you were known as a team that could defend anyone. Still, I think people were leaning toward Olympicaos. How did you approach them defensively?
Sinan Guler: I think Olympiacos as far as team structure goes, although they seem like they look to Spanoulis, I think their basketball mentality is moving the ball as quick as possible. But they know where to pass when they get stuck somewhere. That takes a lot of rhythm and when they’re playing with rhythm, they’re pretty much unstoppable. Because then Spanoulis, Acie Law and [Kostas] Sloukas distribute the ball to whoever they want.
SH: How did you keep Spanoulis from scoring at his usual rate? Was it your goal to make him a passer?
Guler: What we tried to do was to get the guards, and especially Spanoulis, out of their rhythm, which we did successfully throughout the whole series. Another thing we tried to do was take the risk of the four man hitting the three-pointer. Although they’re great shooters, I think it was still one of the weaker points that they had, and we actually got Olympiacos out of their rhythm. We played a lot of defensive match-ups. We played zone, we played box-and-one, and we played man-to-man and we mixed it up throughout the whole game. More than enough. It confused them a lot, and it helped us emphasize our fastbreak by stopping them and getting them to take bad shots. Again, it worked thoughout the whole series. It won two games for us, and we could have won game one. I think it was a good run for us.
SH: You mentioned making the four man shoot. Do you think it’d be a good idea for them to run Papanikoalou out against CSKA? Could that be effective against all of Moscow’s length?
Guler: I think they used it against us too, when they would just play four short guys. (Note: Olympiacos played Papanikoalou at the four for 14 minutes during the quarterfinals, usually with Kyle Hines but occasionally Josh Powell at center according to In-The-Game.org). It’s always an advantage when you have someone tall at the four. But we had [Dusko] Savanovic and [Kerem] Gonlum. Gonlum (6-foot-10) is mobile and has been able to guard people Papanikoalou’s size, even smaller. It’s definitely something Olympiaocs will use in the Final Four. I don’t think they can use it for 30 minutes, but for five to eight minutes it could help them a lot.
SH: Olympiacos is known to extend on the pick and rolls defensively. Now that you’ve seen that, played against that, what’s the best way to take advantage of that?
Guler: I think if you move the ball quick, and whoever’s playing the pick and roll gets the ball out of his hands as quick as possible when the hedge comes out, then I think that’s the point where the defense is most vulnerable. Then in two seconds if you make three quick passes, it’s either a lay-up or a three-point shot. And it’s going to wide open. In my opinion it doesn’t matter if you hit the roll guy or not, you can find a guy either behind you or on the other wing.
CSKA Moscow
SH: You beat them 63-60. Milos Teodosic had a career-high 26 but you still got the win. Do you remember what Oktay’s plan was going into the game and how you executed it?
Guler: It was mainly staying closed in under the three-point line when they play the pick and roll. Especially with Teodosic’s talent. He can move the ball however he wants, even if he’s blindfolded. Towards the end, we tried to get him frustrated a little bit because he tends to take control of the game when it’s close, and you can actually take advantage of that, in my belief. We did the right things toward the end and we capitalized on fast breaks. And we got the win.
SH: So if Milos is going to shoot ten threes and make five and score 26, you can live with that?
Guler: I think if CSKA plays better team concept basketball, they’re harder to stop. But if one man tries to get control of the game it’s a problem. And that doesn’t go just for CSKA.
Real Madrid
SH: A week before that CSKA game, you beat Real Madrid 74-72 at home. When you play them, how do you account for so many offensive weapons?
Guler: I think Madird plays the most exciting basketball in all Europe. For two years now, actually. We won it on Jaycee Carroll’s miss at the end there, They’e a difficult team because Mirotic, he plays as a four but he’s a more mobile four for his size and can do a lot of things outside the three-point line. They distribute the ball very well, but I think we pressured them enough. And we were stronger tougher on the inside to capitalize on some of their weaknesses. I think they’re not used to getting physical on the court.
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That’s all for now, folks. Next up: CSKA Moscow looks for revenge against Olympiacos.
Nick Gibson, editor of EuroleagueAdventures.com, covers Euroleague and other international basketball developments for SheridanHoops.com. Click here to follow him on Twitter.