Panathinaikos won a berth into the semifinals of the Greek Cup defeating Panellinios at home by 80-66. It now awaits upon discovering its next opponent’s identity, to be unraveled in the encounter HraklisVsPanionios (28/11). The clash introduced Mike Batiste and Kostas Tsartsaris back to action, the pair proving to have overcome their injuries, emerging actually as very essential elements in the greens ultimate domination.
Though stepping on court numb, nevertheless it was not an issue for home-team Panathinaikos for the ensuing match-up. When defense fell into place, board controlling came into green possession Batiste and Tsartsaris coming off the bench to see their first official game of the season, the team’s image changed radically. Minute 6 score 11-15 became 24-15 at 10’30’’, Smith cutting into the hosts’ run with a shot beyond the arc (24-18, 11’45’’).
The pace was in the gear Zeljko Obradovic chose, head coach of the clover enjoying his team exploit every opportunity offered to run the field, whilst in fixed game situations there was patience but also velocity to circulate the ball and allow the free guy to present himself to get some range. Vassilis Spanoulis set the tone of the gap at double digits for the first time in the clash (30-20, 13’30’’), upped the ante to +19 (47-28, 18’30’’), as technical staff tried out schemes and sought resources from frontcourt, as the game went into recess, 47-32, big man Mike Batiste weighing heavy having already been charged with 3 personals up to this point, all offensive fouls at that. Key to Panathinaikos’s prevalence was mainly two shot validity (10/13, 76%) while three’s weren’t that bad either standing at 8 for 18, 44%, only 4 turnovers to show for an entire first half.
Antonis Fotsis sunk a charity shot to +20 (55-35, 23’25’’) in favor of Panathinaikos, game seeming to be a wrap earlier than one would have presumed. Panellinios’s come-back attempt was enforced mainly via defense, as it crunched up to guard its key and at certain cases made life difficult for the clover’s guys. The guests cut the trail down to 13 (69-56, 35’). The greens got to 74-56 behind a triple unleashed by Fotsis, however the lead was cut down again in the three next plays (74-62, 37’). All that was left to be established was the final score that sent Panathinaikos into the Greek Cup semifinals, 80-66 across from rival Panellinios.
Referees: Schinas, Koromilas, Psarianos
Quarters: 22-15, 47-32, 67-49, 80-66
Panathinaikos (Obradovic): Tepic 4, Spanoulis 9, Perperoglou 8, Batiste 15, Fotsis 8, Golemac, Nicholas 9, Tsartsaris 7, Diamantidis 11, Calathes 6, Verginis, Shermadini 3
Panellinios (Zouros): Xanthopoulos 9, Papamakarios 7, Charalabidis 5, Ostojc 4, Johnsen 1, Smith 5, Petroulas 6, Kobodietas, Blackney 8, Kolokas 2, Davis 7, Vougioukas 12
