Efes confident of a win over Olympiacos

Efes Pilsen wants nothing but a win when it takes on Olympiacos, one of the best teams in Europe, on Wednesday.

The Brewers are looking to get their second win when they play the fourth match of Group B in the Euroleague.

Although forming a squad worthy of an All-Star tag, with high-profile players such as Bostjan Nachbar, Daniel Santiago, Igor Rakocevic and Mario Kasun, Efes started the Beko Basketball League with a disappointing 2-1 record, along with getting only one win on the European stage. Sunday’s victory over local rival Fenerbahçe Ülker, however, lifted spirits on the team.

Coach Ergin Ataman acknowledged that Wednesday’s game would be tough, but said he had reason to be hopeful.

“We are going to play the toughest game on the road this season,” the Turkish coach was quoted as saying on the official Euroleague Web site (www.euroleague.net). “Olympiacos is an excellent team packed with great stars like Nicola Vujcic, Theodoros Papaloukas and Linas Kleiza. Sure they have ups and downs, but they got a big win against Lietuvos Rytas last week.”

“We also have an experienced and talented squad and our performance has been rising in the last couple of games, which makes me hopeful about this game,” the coach added. “We will try to snatch a win there in Athens at the Peace and Friendship Arena, which we are very familiar with.”

Efes Pilsen has a remarkable winning run of eight consecutive victories over Olympiacos, which ended last year’s Euroleague campaign in the fourth spot. If it manages to beat the Greek giant, the Turkish team will remain in contention to win the group, but otherwise it would fall three wins behind the leader only four games into the season.

The Istanbul side opened the group stage with an unexpected defeat against Lithuanian Lietuvos Rytas and suffered another loss to group leader Unicaja Malaga of Spain after beating Serbian side Partizan.

Efes Pilsen General Manager Engin Özerhun said that the club had not given up its bid to win the group and called the Olympiacos match a key marker on the road to the next round.

“Last week’s Unicaja match was a serious opportunity but we could not make the most of it. Now we have a similar chance ahead,” said Özerhun. “We had some troubles both in European and domestic competitions in the first days of November. But now we are coming off a good victory over Fenerbahçe Ülker and we want to get a great advantage with a victory at Olympiacos.”

Noting that Efes Pilsen would take a place in the top three with Unicaja Malaga and Olympiacos, Özerhun added: “So, whoever manages to win away games will make a difference.”

Efes Pilsen forward Preston Shumpert said that the team could win if it can bring its A-game in Greece.

“There’s not much to say about Olympiacos other than they are a great team. If we want to get a win there, we have to do things much better than we have in the rest of the season,” he said. “We have the skill and the power to prove that we could get a win there. And this is what we want to do.”

The Olympiacos-Efes Pilsen match starts at 9 p.m.