European Hoops Podcast - Euroleague and FIBA
Aug 28, 2026 · 31 min · 11 segments
Tiago Cordeiro reviews EuroLeague champions Olympiacos, examining what fueled their success and where they can still improve. He also breaks down newcomers Beşiktaş before revealing his way-too-early…
Tiago CordeiroHost
André LemosHost
Uh, and to be fair and to be honest, uh, I wasn't expecting them to, to win this year, uh, 'cause they had some bumps and some up and down during the season.
And of course, the, one of them, their go-to players is Evan Fournier, and he produced a lot, uh, during final four, even on the playoffs.
But during regular season, uh, he struggled a bit, and, uh, I wasn't expecting him to, to be that, that good, uh, the way he performed during, uh, during the final four.
And he was one of the major, uh, helpers and boosters to, to them being the champion.
Uh, I thought that at some point there would be some coaching fatigue because Coach Vrtovc is there for a while and, uh, they weren't winning.
They weren't-- They were pl- basically playing the same way, uh, from like four years ago since recovering EuroLeague, and they didn't won, so why would they won now? And, uh, all that stuff with, uh, that thing that, uh, people say about the first seed curse, uh, I w- the, it was a tough year for them, but still they delivered, and it was awesome.
Of course, uh, I'm a huge fan of the way they play, not, not about the club, but it's basically the way they play, like to share the ball, off ball, uh, off ball movement and all that stuff that most of EuroLeague fans love, they do that, so of course it was awesome.
Of course-- No, I mean, it was the best season because they won, but during regular season, they underperformed a bit.
Uh, they started, they started well, but they suffered, uh, 96 points against Mosconi, for example.
Then, I mean, they started, if you see correctly, they started two and two, and with some, some tough wins against Maccabi, only for one, only by one.
They, they had three losses in a row, uh, at times, so it wasn't the best season, uh, the best regular season of them all.
And one thing that we were used to see from Olympiacos was their, their good defense, and they weren't performing like that.
Uh, they weren't performing, uh, during the, the first half of the season, uh, they were underperforming on that department, on the defensive side.
Of course, uh, during this season and with some addings and with some players returning from injuries, uh, they started being way better, but still, uh, if you see, uh, right now, they ended the season with the, what, with the second-best defending, the defensive rating, which is awesome.
And this is, uh, the major difference here because we weren't used to see them being this dominant, uh, offensively.
Uh, we were only used to see them being, uh, elite, playing off ball, um, with some good shooters, but things clicked, uh, at one point, and they end the 21, uh, 12, uh, record.
Uh, of course, that their, their best players were, uh, Alexander, uh, Vezenkov, Milutinov.
Uh, and to be fair and to be honest, uh, I wasn't expecting them to, to win this year, uh, 'cause they had some bumps and some up and down during the season.
And of course, the, one of them, their go-to players is Evan Fournier, and he produced a lot, uh, during final four, even on the playoffs.
But during regular season, uh, he struggled a bit, and, uh, I wasn't expecting him to, to be that, that good, uh, the way he performed during, uh, during the final four.
And he was one of the major, uh, helpers and boosters to, to them being the champion.
Uh, I thought that at some point there would be some coaching fatigue because Coach Vrtovc is there for a while and, uh, they weren't winning.
They weren't-- They were pl- basically playing the same way, uh, from like four years ago since recovering EuroLeague, and they didn't won, so why would they won now? And, uh, all that stuff with, uh, that thing that, uh, people say about the first seed curse, uh, I w- the, it was a tough year for them, but still they delivered, and it was awesome.
Of course, uh, I'm a huge fan of the way they play, not, not about the club, but it's basically the way they play, like to share the ball, off ball, uh, off ball movement and all that stuff that most of EuroLeague fans love, they do that, so of course it was awesome.
Of course-- No, I mean, it was the best season because they won, but during regular season, they underperformed a bit.
Uh, they started, they started well, but they suffered, uh, 96 points against Mosconi, for example.
Then, I mean, they started, if you see correctly, they started two and two, and with some, some tough wins against Maccabi, only for one, only by one.
They, they had three losses in a row, uh, at times, so it wasn't the best season, uh, the best regular season of them all.
And one thing that we were used to see from Olympiacos was their, their good defense, and they weren't performing like that.
Uh, they weren't performing, uh, during the, the first half of the season, uh, they were underperforming on that department, on the defensive side.
Of course, uh, during this season and with some addings and with some players returning from injuries, uh, they started being way better, but still, uh, if you see, uh, right now, they ended the season with the, what, with the second-best defending, the defensive rating, which is awesome.
And this is, uh, the major difference here because we weren't used to see them being this dominant, uh, offensively.
Uh, we were only used to see them being, uh, elite, playing off ball, um, with some good shooters, but things clicked, uh, at one point, and they end the 21, uh, 12, uh, record.
Uh, of course, that their, their best players were, uh, Alexander, uh, Vezenkov, Milutinov.
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