Panathinaikos is in Berlin, where the Euroleague F4 will be hosted (1-3/5) at the O2 Arena. The team travelled with all 15 players present, optimistic but also entirely aware of the hard work up ahead.
Zeljko Obradovic stated: “It is my 11th time in a F4. But this is not a matter to focus on; everyone’s personal accomplishments. What is of the essence is the present and the great opponent we are up against and this is all that should be weighing on our minds. We must be prepared to compete for 40 minutes and play a good game. It is the only way to reach the final. We must keep our cool, this is what we are trying to convey to our players, and do our job. We are facing a very familiar rival, in a special game since it leads to the final. I know that everyone is talking about Panathinaikos’ experience and the fact that Olympiakos hasn’t participating in a F4 in 10 years, thus it is hungrier. If Panathinaikos wins everyone will charge it to experience, if Olympiakos wins they will charge it to its greater appetite. What am I suppose to comment on this? As far as competing matters I am certain that both teams will try to introduce something different to the game. But we are well acquainted. We have to play a game. We must step on court opting to give proof of our team quality”.
Vassilis Spanoulis stressed: “Alas we would answer negatively to the question if we are ready at this moment. We have been preparing for quite some time now. We have reached the final stage and we can’t wait for the game to begin. We are as ready as we’ll ever be. Surprises from both teams should be a granted fact. But apart from that, turnovers and rebounds will be the judge to a great extent of the encounter’s winner, so will the pace of the game be. Every team has secrets that will be revealed on the floor. We have a great encounter ahead of us and we are heading towards it in the according fashion we do all games like this, no matter who the rival is. It is a knock-out game, a game with no tomorrow. Tradition might have a small part in it, but we all know that the present is what counts, not the past. Elements that are important are experience and eagerness. Combination of both is the tricky part, while it is also of substantial matter on what kind of a day each team will find itself on. It’s a derby, chance would have it amongst two Greek teams and of course it’s great that Greece will certainly be represented in the final, although I hope it’s my team doing the representing. Mr. Obradovic had nothing out of the ordinary to share with us. Only that we are preparing for a game. I personally have really been expecting the F4 and I want the title because it is missing from my collection. But basketball is not played by one. It is a team sport and it calls for an effort from all of us. We have a greatly experienced coach, which is a very important fact that we help us a lot. What we hope is to see our fans applaud us, support us without becoming a spectacle in Europe and to the entire world”.
Itoudis: “Focused on our game plan”
Dimitris Itoudis talked about the preparation of Panathinaikos coming to the end in Berlin. Panathinaikos is facing Olympiakos in the semifinal of Euroleague’s Final 4.
“The important thing is that we had good trainings, we are focused on our schedule and this is what we are aiming for, to keep to the plan. A ball game though is as live situation that offers you the answers but also gets you thinking. To a great extent I believe we are ready to offer resolution to any queries. Further, we have 3 practices coming towards us since we will train on Thursday morning too, just to work out any imperfections. What is essential now is to relax so much mentally as physically, this is what all these years of experience have taught us. F4 games our knock-out encounters and are all very special, since the semi-final is also a final and that is how we should address it. We have referred to the particular aspects of Olympiakos’ game in which there lies quality, because it has quality as a team, we broke down its offence to see what we could possibly come up against during the game, scout its weaknesses so as for us to make things even harder for its players.
What it was, it still is. We have tried to handle this last month to our best interest. See what the given facts are and state them to the players. And this exactly is why I stated in the beginning that I believe we are at a good level of mental and physical concentration. I believe we used this month to our advantage.
When you both your players’ and the opponent players’ personal abilities you have an edge. You know how they will react in certain circumstances; you know what their game is all about and how it is built up and more. Apart from this many other things count in a game. We have prepared everything down to the last details. There is no need for concern, but it comes down to analyzing what went wrong in the game we lost and what we did correct in the games we won. Olympiakos has a few new elements; so do we. A team is the sum of abilities and weaknesses and this is what we focus on”.
