Panathinaikos found itself on its worst night in this season (and actually one of the worst of the last few years) tonight, losing by the not so flattering score 90-66, in game 2 of the 2008-09 Euroleague at the “Palau Blaugrana” arena. Zeljko Obradovic’s team paid for a very poor first half it committed, period of time in which it presented itself with quite a lengthy range of problems, so much in defense as in offense, allowing “Barca” to snatch the leading role slightly after tip off and hang on to it all through the game, up to the very end. The Spaniards, with their amazing ability to score from the field, either from short or long distance, had no problem whatsoever to leave the stadium victoriously, since Panathinaikos was at no point able to fight back.
Panathinaikos started off on the wrong foot in the encounter, since almost immediately it began to chase after Barcelona in the score. Zeljko Obradovic for the first time, went into the game with twin towers Fotsis and Pekovic in his initial five, opting to dominate sky circulation (the mere fact of Santiago’s presence on the opponent’s bench was by itself a problem for the “Greens’” coach), but the hosts were more effective (and good at their trips from beyond the arc) in offence than their rivals, who were also bad in defense during this time.
Panathinaikos…in Athens
Pekovic’s two hasty fouls on Santiago presented the first major problem for Panathinaikos in the game. In the end of the first quarter it was 11 points short of its opponent (26-15). The “Greens” continued “searching” for each other on the court, presenting no rhythm in offence and abysmal scoring stats; whilst in the other end of the court they showed nothing but serious weaknesses, which were taken advantage of perfectly by the Spanish, who got to lead with up to 17 points (16’ 40-23), driven by an unstoppable Carlos Navarro. Nicola Pekovic on the other hand, was the only one who mad an effort in offence for Panathinaikos, without being able to accumulate much for his team, which headed towards the locker rooms with a 17 point difference hovering over its head (50-33)! Things did not change after recess, since Panathinaikos apparently had left his good suite in Athens and Barcelona reigned in all categories. “Greens” were ineffective in scoring, but mostly could not fulfill defensive obligations, as the “Blaugranas” scored at will. The gap climbed all the way up to 28 points at 29’ (71-43), a margin quite descriptive of the game’s profile! The rest of the encounter was typical procedure, hosting Panathinaikos trimming the edge of its loss until the final buzzer.
Quarters: 26-15, 50-33(half time), 72-45, 90-66
Barcelona (Pascual): Basile 2, Barton 5, Lakovic 7, Navarro 21, Andersen 9, Vasquez 12, Ilyasova 14, Santa 3, Santiago 8, Grimau 9.
Panathinaikos (Obradovic): Kecman 4, Perperoglou, Batiste 14, Fotsis 9, Hatzivrettas, Nicolas 4, Tsartsaris 4, Diamantidis 10, Pekovic 15, Jasikevicius 6.
A troubled Obradovic
Zeljko Obradovic was clearly troubled after the game, not only because his team lost, but also mainly about the way it presented itself. The Serbian coach in his statements, stressed: “Barcelona played supremely tonight and deserves all compliments awarded towards it. We knew we were up against a great team with quality and every team will lose to it, if it plays as we did tonight. This appearance of ours must trouble us all, first and foremost me and we must make adjustments. It is another thing simply to not play well, and another not being prepared to fight till the end, us we did not today. No one should underestimate Barcelona, since if they do, they will put themselves in harm’s way. Everything went wrong this evening, it is a great loss, but it is better off, that it came early in the season”. Dimitris Dimantidis from his side stated: “Playing like this will get us nowhere. It was a bad game, so much defensively, as offensively. It might turn out a good thing, us losing now, early in the season, costing us not much defect. We must keep high playing standards continuously, if we wish to proceed. We must also track down our mistakes in this game and improve ourselves on them”.
