Barcelona has no lack of talent and depth, although they were missing some key players for this game with Alex Abrines and Nico Laprovittola both out of action with latter having been a late scratch due to a muscle issue. While the Catalonia club may be in third place coming into the Olympiacos contest, winning and greatness is ultimately the name of the game.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_0543.jpeg\")
Tomas Satoransky – Photo Credit: Euroleague<\/p><\/div>\n
The Greek club has been hovering a little bit over .500 in the hunt for at least a spot in the Play In but the loss of two key cogs in head coach Georgios Bartzokas\u2019s machine in Sasha Vezenkov to the Sacramento Kings and Kostas Sloukas to crosstown rivals Panathinaikos, it\u2019s clear that Olympiacos are still under construction.<\/p>\n
What became evident, very very quickly is that Barcelona moves the ball well. Really, really well and that caused fits off the bat for the visitors. Any time someone gets stuck in the paint, especially by a double team, the first reaction is not to try and force the shot but to kick the ball out and find the open man on the perimeter for usually a wide open 3-pointer. The Barca players know that someone is free and that someone is going to be beyond the arc.<\/p>\n
In the first quarter that was Jabari Parker as the former second overall pick at the 2014 NBA Draft went wild from deep with a trio of triples and 13 first quarter points but that didn\u2019t matter to Alec Peters who willed his team back into the game but the hosts went up 27-20 after ten minutes of play.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_0542.webp\")
Jabari Parker – Photo Credit: Euroleague<\/p><\/div>\n
Parker, who played his first four seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks also spent time with five other teams before heading overseas and signing with Barca. Unfortunately, the Duke product\u2019s time in the NBA was injury plagued right from his first season in the Association and probably didn\u2019t live up to the expectations that were set by the experts and perhaps also himself.<\/p>\n
As the second quarter got underway a smattering of former NBA players and ones that would like to one day play in the \u201cWorld\u2019s Greatest League\u201d began to put their mark on the game. From Olympiacos guard Nigel Williams-Goss who played a 10 game stint with the Utah Jazz to Barcelona\u2019s 23-year old forward Joel Parra who scored a game winning bucket this past weekend in the local ACB League who may dream of heading to the NBA one day.<\/p>\n
Goss dropped 8 points in the period had plied his trade with Partizan Belgrade and Olympiacos before giving the NBA a whirl with the team that had selected him in the second round of the 2017 Draft. After that a decision was made to head back to Europe where he played with Lokomotiv Kuban and Real Madrid before joining up with his former team.<\/p>\n
\nFun game between Barcelona + Obradoiro who had the hosts on the ropes for most of the contest until Joel Parra got the put back as time expires OT to give Barca the 92-90 win. Parra played for the Spain U19 team in 2019 when Deni Avdija led Israel to the European Championship. pic.twitter.com\/FXtG0b1Tm5<\/a><\/p>\n
— Sports Rabbi (@thesportsrabbi) January 7, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n