The perfect balance between substance and show-time was the factor that granted Panathinaikos the win against A.E.L. by 102-58 at the OAKA arena, in game 3 for the Greek League.
Good groove in its game, collaborations and great two-point stats (9 out of 9) were the three elements that allowed Panathinaikos to build a satisfactory lead in the first quarter. The team from Larisa drew at 5-5 (4’15’’), just a little while over the first half of the first quarter the score was 9-8 (5’40’’), but at this point Panathinaikos decided to get down to business. With an 8-0 streak its players reach to lead by 17-8 (7’45’’), never looking back from that moment on and until crunch time.
The first quarter ended 23-10, staring Nicola Pekovic who made the best out of his teammates’ passes and by going to the bank at all of his trips to the charity stripe. The encounter’s first half found the hosts having offered many great plays to their fans and Zeljko Obrandovic clearing off the bench, granting a lot of playing time to Dimitris Verginis early on in the game. The +14 in which the first 20 minutes in the game concluded into was the largest margin that the Greens had reached by now (44-30) difference that had been first touched at 17’20’’ (41-27).
A come back on behalf of the A.E.L. team was not what one would call a piece of cake. At least not as long as Panathinaikos enjoyed full control over rhythm plus rebounds (27-to-17) and its players individually all seemed to be having fun, nevertheless keeping focused on their game, searching for the open guy, the correct pass. It is not a random incident that through its manor of playing, Panathinaikos finishing up the third quarter had 14-to-2 good final passes! In view of all this, the score formulated at 67-41 at 30’ and Zeljko Obradovic was in the harmonious position to see all of his boys getting psyched to keep up the good work and feisty defense all through the last quarter. The good work paid off and the score board was there to offer proof. The margin soared to a juicy +30 for the first time at 33’’45’’ (77-46).
Show time
The Greens went into show time gear especially in the clutch, A.E.L. not being able to fight back any longer. A notorious flush by Nikos Hatzivrettas was undoubtedly the game’s highlight. Summing up a fast break in the best possible character, Hatzivrettas galloped down the open field and dunked the ball, gaining the perk of a three point play and minutes after he had brought the house down, he also made use of his foul gift. The crowed rose to its feet and cheered melodically Panathinaikos’ number 10’s name for his outstanding performance. Of course one cannot forget Antonis Fotsis’ astounding alley-oop one hander dunk in the first half after a supreme connection with Ducan Kecman, who dished the ball for Fotsis. And these two were just a specimen of what Panathinaikos’ fans enjoyed in this game past. All this said, the lead grew to +40 (97-56, 39’) and the 100 point barrier was breached round about 39’15’’ by a long distance call from down town, made by usual suspect Stratos Perperoglou. The score settled at this point at the final 102-51.
Referees: Voreadis, Kaldiris, Katrachouras
Quarters: 23-10, 44-30, 67-41, 102-58
Panathinaikos (Obradovic): Kecman, Perperoglou 18, Batiste 12 (7rbs), Fotsis 14, Hatzivrettas 7, Nicolas 5, Tsartsaris 4, Diamantidis 3 (5as), Pekovic 20, Sakota 6, Jasikevicius 9, Verginis 4
A.E.L. 1964 (Alexandris): Matalon, Mejia 11, Brozos, Karadolamis 3, Apostolidis 17, Manolopoulos, Papanikolaou 2, Papakostas 3, Tsairelis 6, Karavanas 2, Lappas 4, Francis 10
*Vassilis Spanoulis (tarsal tunnel syndrome) and Fragiskos Alvertis were not included in Panathinaikos’ roster, whilst the game was watched by Yorgi Shermadini.
