Fragkiskos Alvertis praised his players at the press conference after the 4th final and the victory against Olympiacos at SEF.
"We did what we wanted to do: We brought the series back to OAKA. There are some moments when confidence, faith and self respect counts more than anything. When your ego gets hurt, it's important to play the way you know how to play. The guys haven't forgotten how to play. We brought all these on the floor tonight with a fighting spirit and at the same time we were focused in the first half and we did what we wanted to do. Now in three days we have the 5th final".
Panathinaikos' coach had something special to say about the fans being there at the practice yesterday and at "Divani Caravel" today: "I want to say a "thank you" to these guys who were there to lift the spirits of the team both at the practice and at the hotel. It's really important to know that when in tough times we stay together. When things are easy everybody wants to be there for the photos. What counts, is what happens when tough times arise".
Stephane Lasme (player, Panathinaikos) noted: "It was a tough game for both teams. Both teams played really tough. We played as a team and players like Jankovic helped us to get the win".
Giorgos Bartzokas (coach, Olympiacos) stated: "Congratulations to Panathinaikos for the victory. They played well, while we were nervous and we rushed both in offense and defense. So, our production in offense was really low. We didn't have good choices, we weren't patient and this was an advantage for Panathinaikos. We were impatient we wanted to win the game early.
We witnessed once more of the situation we have to face. Our presidents don't throw money to the referees, they don't curse referees. Two out of three referees, Karakatsounis and Panagiotou were last year also, when Panathinaikos did the break. We saw Lasme blocking a shot illegally, we say Perperoglou getting a foul while he never touched Maciulis. We made three fouls when the clock was at 8 seconds on Diamantidis and Fotsis, but we got a foul only when the clock was at 2''. For me this fact alone certifies some things. Referees addressed to me because I said to Tomic to sit down and I got a technical foul because the referee told me not to speak and I asked why. These things are new to us. Mantzaris played 8 minutes and he had 5 fouls.
Asked whether the interruption of the game due to the smoke fans created hurt his team, he replied: "Our job is to play. It's not my job to say if the team was affected by this fact".
Speaking about the 5th final he said: "We'll talk a lot. We want to play our game and to claim our chances there. We haven't lost easily there. Everything goes down to one decision, on the details. We hope that the atmosphere will be the same there, which I doubt".
Mardy Collins (player, Olympiacos) stated: "It was a tough game. I don't believe that we stepped on the floor with the right mentality. We didn't move the ball like we did in the previous games. We went to individual game and we didn't play well at all".
