2013 FIBA Intercontinental Cup

Result

Games

Final context

The 23rd edition of the FIBA Intercontinental Cup, and the first of the relaunched, continuously-run modern series, was contested October 4-6, 2013 as a two-game aggregate-score series between the reigning EuroLeague champion, Olympiacos of Piraeus, and the reigning FIBA Americas League champion, Pinheiros/Sky of Sao Paulo. Rather than a genuine home-and-away arrangement, both legs were played in Brazil, at Ginasio Jose Correa in Barueri on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, an arrangement not uncommon in this competition's early relaunch years, when the smaller Americas League club typically hosted both games rather than the two clubs alternating continents. Olympiacos, fresh off winning the 2012-13 EuroLeague title over CSKA Moscow under coach Georgios Bartzokas, took control from the opening tip of Game 1 on October 4 in front of 4,500 fans, winning 81-70. Two days later, in Game 2 before a smaller crowd of 3,000, the Greek club was even more dominant, pulling away to an 86-69 win to seal the series 2-0 on aggregate. Georgios Printezis, the veteran Olympiacos forward who would go on to become one of the club's most decorated players, led the way in the clinching game with 16 points, with guard Vangelis Mantzaris and center Mirza Begic each adding 10. Afterward, Printezis captured the significance of the achievement for a club that had just come off Europe's biggest prize: "We are very happy to start the season with this trophy. After being EuroLeague champions, it is very important to become the champion of the Intercontinental Cup." Bartzokas, asked to compare the level of competition, pointed to Pinheiros' thin bench as the difference over two games: "The biggest difference comes with the players coming from the bench, as Pinheiros has almost played with seven players." Pinheiros coach Claudio Mortari was gracious in defeat, telling reporters, "They were the winning team, but we are not losers," a nod to the achievement of reaching the final at all as South America's champion against one of Europe's traditional powers. For Olympiacos, the Intercontinental Cup crown was a fitting exclamation point on a golden period for the club, extending a run that had already delivered back-to-back EuroLeague titles in 2012 and 2013. It was also, per the club's own historical count, its first Intercontinental Cup trophy of the modern era (Olympiacos does not claim any of the older, pre-relaunch editions from the 1960s-90s lineage). The result set the tone for the newly relaunched competition's early years, in which EuroLeague champions -- treated as favorites against clubs from FIBA's Americas circuit -- would go on to win most editions through 2015, before the tournament's format and participant pool began to broaden considerably later in the decade.

Sources

• Wikipedia — 2013 FIBA Intercontinental Cup
• FIBA — GRE/BRA: Reds defeat Pinheiros to capture Intercontinental Cup