Panathinaikos fulfilled its obligations in the 2009-2010 regular Euroleague season behind a road victory. It prevailed over Oldenburg in Germany by 67-64 featuring Vassilis Spanoulis, Dimitris Diamantidis and Nikola Pekovic all sidelined due to injuries. Panathinaikos finished up the phase ranking second in line behind leader of the group Real Madrid, since the latter defeated Armani Jeans Milano in Italy by the final 66-75.
Head Coach Zeljko Obradovic sought for solutions to aid Panathinaikos in winning the clash as aspired, seeing that his roster was missing key elements Spanoulis, Diamantidis and Pekovic. For initial 5 he sent into battle Calathes, Nicholas, Perperoglou, Fotsis and Batiste, the aforementioned undertaking all clover offensive assignments in the minutes coming off tip-off, cruising the greens to an early +9 cushion at 5’20’’ (2-11). Obradovic had already introduced Milenko Tepic to the encounter from minute 2, swapping him for Nick Calathes, the Serbian guard taking control of the reins on the floor. The greens got to unguarded shots, paced themselves thus climbing up to +10 (4-14 at 6’45’’, 10-20 at 10’).
Not much changed all through second quarter. Panathinaikos’s dominance was more than obvious on court, despite given absences and the lead lay steadily in its possession. However, it did allow Oldenburg certain outbreaks, presented it with second chances at shooting, “gifts” it exploited but not to the extreme of their potential. Score wise this converted into the clover flying ahead further and further from its host, nevertheless never being able to maintain the advantage and the distance standings from the Germans. At 15’ it was up by 9 (14-23) but a triple off Ricky Paulding set the tone at 20-25 (17’20’’). Panathinaikos mounted +10 for the third time in the matchup (23-33, 19’), Drew Nicholas draining a triple as intermission went into session, teams resting 8 points apart (25-33).
The clover had outshone in rebounding (14-22), the home-team though holding the superlative in offensive boards, as it tallied 8 after 20 minutes of play-time. Dark spot for the greens, 10 committed turnovers during this period of time. Oldenburg had made only 3 in the respective category, but on the other hand had gone for a three 15 times, making only 3 of its attempts. Panathinaikos on the contrary had 3-for-4 three-pointers.
Game recommencing after the break, Drew Nicholas drilled a trifecta to leave the Germans trailing by 11 (25-36), was copied by Stratos Perperoglou to up the ante to +12 (27-39), both players however, having been charged with a third personal foul each already in the first minute of the second half. The trail was cut back down again as Paulding embarked on a vigorous beyond the arc shooting spree hence Oldenburg found itself only down by 3 (40-43, 25’25’’), seeing on to a cost-to-cost lay-in committed by the same culprit to bring host a single point behind defending champ guest (42-43). Nicholas presented his team with a breather unleashing yet another triple from his arsenal (42-46, 27’15’’), Batiste chipped in from the charity line to 42-48 (28’). The Germans had not decided though to bid farewell to arms quite yet. Foster went for 47-48 (29’33’’), Scekic added to 49-50, score with which third quarter concluded, before Carter presented his team with its first lead in the clash (52-50, 30’15’’). Batiste shared buckets with Tepic to bring Oldenburg within 2 points behind a mini 4-0 run, setting Panathinaikos yet again on top (52-54, 31’25’’). But it was currently a whole different ball-game on court. Subs coming off the bench were more than a frequent situation, as the according balances were at large mainly in the perimeter at both ends of the floor.
The Germans went up again at 36’20’’ off an attempt by Foster (62-60), but an immediate response was input by big men Batiste and “Batman” Fotsis who shared hoops to 62-65 (37’20’’). Calathes picking a pocket plus a trademark cheeky middle range two-pointer from Jasi flexed the score-board to 62-67 (38’10’’), essentially ending the encounter that finally rested at 64-67.
Referees: Pukl (SLO), Taurino (ITA), Juras (SRB)
Quarters: 10-20, 25-33, 49-50, 64-67
Oldenburg (Krunic): Scekic 4, Buljevic, Strauch, Foster 15, Majstorovic 12, Hain, Gardner 2, Paulding 19, Carter 7, Boumjte Boumjte 5
Panathinaikos (Obradovic): Tepic 6, Perperoglou 3, Batiste 21 (9rbs), Fotsis 7, Nicholas 14, Tsartsaris 2, Calathes 10, Shermadini 2, Jasikevicius 2
Z. OBRADOVIC: “I am pleased with the fact that my players got to the win and fought throughout all 40 minutes game-time. We had stated that the keys to the encounter would be offensive rebounds plus our rivals’ threes. I am very disappointed with our block-outs but also with the way we reacted to three-point shot committed against us, which were 33. Many off which from 9 meters that actually went in. We said the same thing over and over again for the last 4 days about the triples and the block-outs but we were many times surprised by the fact that they shot them. Certain players our “out of it”. They must understand that everyone has to help. We will watched all 40 minutes of the game. One thing is for sure, that we can’t go on this way”
*Many Greek fans were present in the stadium, Panathinaikos supporters, who stood by the team way before the clash even started and all the way down the stretch to the final buzzer. Many visited the hotel at which the delegation was staying, prior to its departure for the stadium.
