On November 5, following Olympiacos Piraeus' home win over AS Monaco (86-65), coach Giorgos Bartzokas provided a comment on his team's latest addition.
"We would have signed Quincy Acy, even if he was point guard," the Greek tactician emphasized.
Well, in hindsight, Bartzokas might just as well have said that the Reds would have picked Acy even if he was going to play only in the Greek League.
Because that's what really happened. Seven months after the NBA veteran first set his foot in Piraeus, he has only appeared in four EuroLeague regular-season games.
Over a total playing time of roughly 10 minutes, Acy made only one 3-point shot, which ironically came in the only one Olympiacos home loss against Crvena Zvezda.
In the Greek League, the 31-year-old forward has played 14 games, with an average of 10 minutes per contest. That's still three minutes less than guard Michalis Lountzis, the 12th man on the Reds' roster. Somewhat surprisingly, Acy has gone over 50% from distance in domestic competition, boasting an astounding team-best 15/29 shooting beyond the arc.
The forward from Texas came to Olympiacos to bolster their defensive prowess, carrying 337 NBA games with seven different teams (Raptors, Kings, Knicks, Mavericks, Nets, Suns) under his belt.
But more importantly, a very promising EuroLeague rookie season with Maccabi Tel Aviv (2019-20), which was cut short by COVID in March 2020.
Despite measuring only 2.01 m. Quincy Acy's ability to support the switch-all defense that Giorgos Bartzokas like to play made him even more attractive.
Being a second-round pick in the 2012 NBA Draft (No. 37), Acy quickly realized that he would need to do whatever it takes for his team to get the win without paying any attention to his individual stats.
With him on the court, Maccabi conceded only 0.79 points per possession when Acy guarded his personal opponent one-on-one; 0.86 points per possession in post-up situations, and 1.0 points when he went to the perimeter.
His 2019-20 campaign generated 4.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per outing over 27 appearances, including 19 starts, in Europe's premier club competition.