Panathinaikos started out on the right foot in OAKA against its fans, defeating Efes Pilsen 99-87. Nikola Pekovic kept the leading role for himself with 29 points, while Perperoglou and Fotsis added 16 each and Antonis Fotsis followed with 11.
Panathinaikos had a very good first half. Efes Pilsen was impossible to question Panathinaikos’ reigns in the game. Zeljko Obradovic shouted a lot of times to his players, but he also cheered for them as he saw them perform very well at times. At the end of halftime Panathinaikos was leading 55-41. The biggest lead in the first half was +16 points (55-39, 19’20’’). The “greens” demonstrated will in defence while in offence was careful, finding solutions in every problem against the defence of Efes Pilsen either it was man to man or zone defence. Fotsis and Diamantidis combined for the most spectacular play of the game, with an alley-oop that ended up with a spectacular dunk with the signature of Antonis Fotsis.
Nikola Pekovic was the one that stepped up in the first minutes of the second half, with five points in a row (64-43, 22’). Efes Pilsen reacted cutting the difference in 10 points (70-60, 28’). It was time for Nikos Hatzivrettas to lead. His five points led to 79-64 at the end of the third period. The situation didn’t change in the fourth period with the lead steadily in double digit numbers (only exception the 96-87, 39’40’’). Drew Nicholas made the 99-87 which was the final score of the game.
Panathinaikos: Kecman 5, Perperoglou 16, Batiste 16, Fotsis 7, Hatzivrettas 5, Nicholas 11, Tsartsaris 2, Diamantidis 3, Pekovic 29, Sakota, Verginis 1, Jasikevicius 4
Efes Pilsen: Hersek 6, Kasun 4, Smith 5, Schumpert 6, Abi, Thornton 5, Gonlum 15, Vujanic 11, Peker 12, Kakiouzis 2, Acur, Guler 2, Arslan 14, Akyol 8.
* Spanoulis and Alvertis did not dress due to minor injuries.
* Panathinaikos is flying tomorrow to Turkey in order to play a second friendly game against Efes Pilsen on Saturday (18.00).
Z. Obradovic: I want to see is our fans’ goal
Zeljko Obradovic talked after the game against Efes Pilsen: “I want to thank everybody that came tonight to watch our team, new Panathinaikos. We all know the team’s goals for the season. What I want to see our fans’ goal. I want to see them make their own record of attendance like they did last year. We want them to be next to us since day one. In the game against Efes Pilsen who showed today once more two faces. It’s something that is normal since we want to test some schemes and plays and to divide the time among our players. The turnovers are something normal for this time of preparation. We have one more game against Efes Pilsen in Turkey and one more week to prepare for our premier against Marousi”.
Obradovic was asked about Pekovic: “Panathinaikos had some very good players in position 5 also in the past. Pekovic is a very good player and I think that he is going to help us a lot. The good thing is that he is not only a good player, but a very good character too. But it’s not about one player. We must not forget that we are a team”.
Ergin Ataman, the coach of Efes Pilsen stated: “There are 3-4 very good teams in Greece and Turkey. Maybe it will be good to organise something like a Super Cup or Super League since the fans are very interested in games between teams of the two countries”.
