Basketball - Containing Spanoulis key to Real final hopes, says Laso

By Zoran Milosavljevic MADRID (Reuters) - Euroleague favourites Real Madrid must stifle inspirational Olympiakos Piraeus playmaker Vassilis Spanoulis if they are to beat the Greek side in Sunday’s final, coach Pablo Laso said. The clash will be a repeat of the 2013 showdown in London’s O2 Arena, when Spanoulis scored all his 22 points in the second half to help Olympiakos to a memorable 100-88 win. Olympiakos beat CSKA 70-68 in Friday’s opening semi-final after Spanoulis sparked their late comeback by scoring 11 of his 13 points in the last five minutes, while Real eased to a 96-87 defeat of Fenerbahce Istanbul. “Vassilis is a great player and the key of Olympiakos, so we have to defend against him as best we can to keep his numbers down,” Laso told Euroleague television on Saturday. “But we can’t forget the rest of the team because I can’t have five players marking Spanoulis. “He is their leader but they have other great players around him. Olympiakos are a team that never gives up and will keep coming at you with a lot of heart even if they are having a bad shooting night.” Nicknamed “Kill Bill” by European basketball fans and pundits for regularly producing his best at crunch times, Spanoulis missed his opening 11 shots against CSKA before he took centre stage. He also put the Russians side to the sword in the 2012 final in Istanbul, when Olympiakos overturned a 19-point deficit in the fourth quarter and won 62-61 as Spanoulis fed forward Georgios Printezis for the game-winning shot on the buzzer. Real, in contrast, have lost two successive finals after they were stunned by Maccabi Tel Aviv 98-86 last year and Laso acknowledged they would have to stay focused on home court in order to end a 20-year wait for a record-extending ninth title. “When you have great players like I do, you know they are going to give everything but if I was to ask anything else of them it is to keep believing and stay convinced that it’s going to be our game,” he said. Olympiakos coach Giannis Sfairopoulous said his side faced an uphill battle to repeat the 2013 feat. “Real are the season’s ultimate favourites because this outfit was built to win the trophy and they are also playing on home court. “But we will fight again and stick to our game." (editing by Justin Palmer)