Offensive schemes: patience with a purpose
Olympiacos did not win the Final Four by playing fast. Their offence was built on deliberate half-court possessions designed to produce one clear advantage and then exploit it. Three families of actions carried the load.
High pick-and-roll with a spaced floor. The staple was a high ball screen from the centre, with the stretch four spotted on the weak side and two wings in the corners. Against switching defences such as Fenerbahçe's, the screen was designed to force a guard onto a big or a big onto a guard. The ball-handler read the coverage: attack the slow-footed defender, or hit the roller if help came from the corner.
Pin-downs and flare screens for Fournier. Fournier was rarely asked to create from a standstill. Instead, the Reds ran him off staggered pin-downs along the baseline and flare screens on the wing, catching the ball on the move. Defenders chasing him arrived late, which is exactly how his hard closeout attacks and relocation threes were generated in the semifinal and final.
Horns entries as a reset. When early actions failed, the offence flowed into horns alignments — two bigs at the elbows — giving the point guard multiple options: a handoff to a wing, a pick-and-pop for the stretch four, or a post entry to the anchor when a smaller defender had switched onto him.
Defensive intensity: switch, contain, rebound
The defensive identity was clear in both games. Olympiacos switched most actions between positions one through four, keeping the ball in front and taking away the rhythm passes that fuel opponents' offences. The centre generally stayed in a drop coverage near the rim, protecting against lobs and deterring drives.
On side pick-and-rolls, the Reds used "ice" coverage, forcing the ball-handler toward the baseline and away from the middle of the floor. Weak-side defenders tagged the roller early, and the rotation behind them was disciplined enough to recover to shooters. That shell is why Fournier's one steal in the final came from reading a lane rather than gambling: the scheme rewarded patience over risk.
Finally, defence did not end until the rebound was secured. Committed defensive rebounding from wings as well as bigs — Fournier's 5 boards in the final are an example — limited second chances and triggered early offence during the decisive third quarters.
Coaching strategy: rotations and adjustments
The coaching staff's most effective lever was rotation management. Minutes were distributed so that the key starters were fresh for the third and fourth quarters, and the second unit was designed to hold the margin rather than chase it. The result shows in the numbers: Olympiacos won both third quarters for a combined +7, then held the fourth quarters level.
Halftime adjustments carried real weight. In the final, after Real Madrid scored 22 in the first quarter by moving the ball quickly, the Reds tightened switching communication and increased physicality at the point of attack, holding their opponent to 17, 18 and 19 in the remaining periods. Timeouts were used surgically — often after two consecutive empty possessions — with after-timeout plays that frequently ran Fournier off screens.