Panathinaikos was defeated in Turkey in the second exhibition game against Efes Pilsen. Panathinaikos played without Vassilis Spanoulis and Fragkiskos Alvertis who didn’t travel with the team, while Dimitris Diamantidis suffered a minor injury at a finger of the left hand and Nikola Pekovic a hit on the chest during the game, leading Zeljko Obradovic to keep on the bench, since the Greek league tips off this weekend. The coach of the greens shared time among his players.
The two teams walked side by side during the first quarter of the game (19-17, 10’), with Antonis Fotsis leading the way the last minutes, but also the first of the second quarter. Nikola Pekovic was the one that assisted him in his effort, with Diamantidis tying the game (28-28), before going to the bench with the injury at his left hand. Efes Pilsen had the advantage on the floor. The Turkish team led 32-28 and a little while later 49-34. Stratos Perperoglou reacted with a three point shot (49-37) just before the buzzer sound for the half time.
Panathinaikos could not get within reach during the second half either. Without Spanoulis and Diamantidis on the floor, Dimitris Verginis was the one that was on duty as a point guard. Efes Pilsen was leading 56-41 (25’) as the third quarter ended 63-52. Michalis Kakiouzis helped Efes lead by 67-52 (33’), before Mike Batiste and Perperoglou step up (67-56, 34’). Charles Smith continued to execute on the other side getting to 25 points (5/7 3pts) two minutes before the end of the game, that ended with Efes Pilsen winning 77-69.
Quarters: 19-17, 49-37, 63-52, 77-69
Efes Pilsen: Hersek 2, Kasun 7, Smith 25, Schubert 6, Thornton 12, Gonlum 1, Vujanic 6, Peker 6, Kakiouzis 2, Guler 3, Arslan 7
Panathinaikos: Kecman 2 (13’), Perperoglou 17 (32’), Batiste 13 (24’), Fotsis 8 (16’, Hatzivrettas 4 (20’), Nicholas (12’), Tsartsaris 5 (24’), Diamantidis 3 (12’), Pekovic 7 (15’), Verginis 6 (16’), Jasikevicius 4 (14’)
“Fighting in every game is a given”
Zeljko Obradovic and Dimitris Itoudis came up with useful conclusions at the end of the game and that was quoted after the end of it: “The game was completely different than the one in Athens. We ended up with some very useful conclusions; especially from the first half. We keep in mind that we made 22 turnovers, something that is unacceptable, plus the fact that we allowed Efes Pilsen to steal the ball 18 times. It was a game full of contacts, a strong game that will help us a lot. It was our choice the exhibition games to be strong games that we’ll help us prepare in the best possible way. In the second half of the game the team played much better. Fighting in every game must be a given for this team, along with the will to play and win, the focus and the clear mind”.
* Ibo Kutluay was present in the game and after its end he visited Panathinaikos in the locker rooms.
