Olympiacos Piraeus have announced that they are parting ways with the American big man Quincy Acy.

Giorgos Bartzokas became the latest recipient of the EuroLeague Coach of the Year award, as the Greek tactician won the accolade for the second time in his career after 2013.

Olympiacos Piraeus' mastermind received the award named after the legendary coach Alexander Gomelski from Nena Ivkovic, the wife of the late coaching legend Dusan Ivkovic who had won the EuroLeague with the Greek side in 2012.

The Reds are preparing for their Final Four semi-final game against Anadolu Efes Istanbul, having three award-winning members in their ranks.

Forward Sasha Vezenkov and guard Kostas Sloukas were chosen to the All-EuroLeague First and Second Team, respectively, in addition to Sloukas racking up another accolade, the 'Magic Moment of the Year' award, thanks to his buzzer-beating 3-point shot against no other than Anadolu Efes in Piraeus.

While paying a visit to the Stark Arena mixed zone, Olympiacos' players answered BasketNews' questions regarding their award-winning coach.

"He deserves the award 100%," Sloukas said.

"He is the man who put this team together and dreamed of it, putting his touch, and now we all celebrate together that we are in the four best teams in Europe. But we don't stop here."

In a similar vein, Sasha Vezenkov pointed out that everyone on the team is happy because we are a family, a team with excellent chemistry.

"As I made the All-Euroleague First team, Kostas Sloukas made the second, so we're all happy about our coach being voted as the best because it's a team sport. One's success is another person's happiness.

He's teaching us, and he's giving us advice. He's always there for us. Like a family, we have some ups and downs," the Bulgarian forward continued.

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.