Union Olimpija –Panathinaikos 85-84
Panathinaikos faced its first defeat of the season in an official encounter, in
game 3 of the Euroleague at the Stozice arena. In a game that went into
over-time, behind final score 85-84, across from host team Union Olimpija,
matchup which kept all viewers on their feet for its entire duration.
Panathinaikos went from one end to the other in the first half of the clash.
After the first recognizing moments on the court, it managed to seem to have control of the game, getting to lead even by 10 (8-18, 7’45’’). Union Olimpija, as it had proven and as so much Zeljko Obradovic as Dimitris Itoudis had warned in reference to Panathinaikos’s current rival was in no mood to give up on the battle field. Step one was to cut the trail down to 16-19 (9’45’’), first quarter resting at 16-22. Game recommencing the Slovenians, having a packed to the rim home-court to their advantage, picked up the slack even further and actually led (23-22, 12’40’’), not stopping at this nevertheless. Three triples, two of the tall guys of the team (Pinkney and Jagodnik) off two perfect passes from Ozvolt plus a three off the disher himself led to 32-24 (14’45’’). A pair of free throws made by Kaimakoglou flexed the score to 32-26 but the scenery did not change, Olimpija heading towards the locker rooms up by 11 (39-28).
A stop and a triple in back-to-back plays from Antonis Fotsis cut the trail down to 6 (42-36, 24’10’’), Romain Sato chipped in to 42-38 (24’45’’), forcing Jure Zdovc to a time-out. Sato stepped back on the floor unaffected by the break to get the score to 42-40 (25’) sinking a pair of shots from the line,
Panathinaikos’s defense at this time coming up supremely effective. A couple of long haul shots swapped between Gregory and Perry ran down the clover once more, score getting to 46-40 (26’20’’). Batiste and Fotsis combined to close the gap down to 2 once more (46-44, 27’20’’), Mike Batiste pulling the tie bucket to 46-46 (28’20’’), Romain Sato running into the fast break off another blocked shot by Fotsis, to set the greens back on top, score now 46-48 (28’40’’). A missed shot plus a turnover and Olimpija was there to make the most of the situation, third quarter ending 48-48.
Dimitris Diamantidis behind only the third clover triple of the eve formed 48-51 (30’20’’), Tsartsaris swapped triples with the aforementioned to 50-54, 31’), Ozbolt and Pinkney presented their team with the game reigns once more (57-55, 33’15’’). An unsportsmanlike foul committed by Batiste on Ozbolt (who left the court drenched in blood, Panathinaikos’s head coach Obradovic fleeing to urge his player to proceed on apologizing to the Slovenian player), allowed the score 59-55 (34’40’’) to come about. Tsartsaris and Diamantidis trimmed the margin back down to a single point (61-60, 36’), Stratos Perperoglou unleashing a trifecta to draw (65-65, 37’25’’), adding to his tally by drilling a pair of charity shots to reemerge the clover to the surface (65-67, 38’). Gregory however input a response to the green siege (67-67, 38’25’’), while in an attempt to gain an offensive board he was awarded a foul, got injured and the free throw execution was undertaken by Ozbolt, who marked 68-67. The same culprit, who had returned to action having been offered first aid in the locker rooms made score 70-67, 42’’ pending on the game clock. 10 seconds later Diamantidis was making 70-69 from the line. Panathinaikos had not yet accumulated 5 team fouls so Tsartsaris fouled, 30’’ left for the buzzer. He also committed the next foul too, on Pinkney, 29’’7 left. He flunked both shots,
Perperoglou snatched the offensive board off the glass, Pinkney fouling
Diamantidis, 16’’ remaining, Diamantidis getting the score to 70-71. Ozbolt’s
travelling, 10’’ remaining and having been guarded by feisty Sato, Panathinaikos now had a new chance to seal the win. As would have been expected, Olimpija sought an immediate foul and got it off Ilievski, who sent Diamantidis to the line yet again, 9’’ left. The cap got the score to 70-72, Ilievski made the bucket to beat the buzzer, that still had 0’’2 to play out. As was logical, the game went into overtime (72-72). Tsartsaris being fouled out, got Mike Batiste back on the floor, while Ozbolt went 1-for-2 from the line to 73-72 (42’), Ilievski unleashing a three to 76-72, Fotsis though copying his actions to 76-75 (42’45’’). Pinkney got his team up by 3 (78-75, 43’), Gregory ran the open field to 80-75 (43’37’’). Batiste performed a three-point-play to jog to 80-78 (43’45’’), Olimpija went back up by 4 (82-78) behind Vrkic (44’), Sato gained a foul on an attempt for a triple but only got 1 free throw in (82-79, 44’15’’).
11’’6 left in OT Diamantidis took yet another trip to the line, from where he
made the score 82-81. At 9’’8 Batiste sent Pinkney to the line, also getting
himself fouled out of the clash. The American player of Olimpija went 2-for-2 (84-81). At the other end of the court Diamantidis had 50%, making 1-fo-2 (84-82, 9’’ pending), himself sending Vrkic to the line at 8’’5, the latter also getting 1-for-2 in (85-82). Only 2’’8 remaining in the encounter, Panathinaikos captain was awarded a foul on a three point shot attempt. He made 2-for-3,
Olimpija snatched the win in view of uncanny celebrations in the fans stands, to such an extent that the team had to reemerged from the locker rooms back onto the floor be applauded by its crowd.
Referees: Ankarali (TUR), Jovcic (SRB), Viklicky (CZ)
Quarters: 16-22, 39-28, 48-48, 72-72(rg), 85-84(ot)
Union Olimpija (Zdovc): Perry 4, Ilievski 11, Anagonye, Gregory 13, Jagodnik 9, Shermadini 4, Pinkney 16, Markota 10, Ozbolt 9, Vrkic 9
Panathinaikos (Obradovic): Perperoglou 9, Batiste 16, Fotsis 13, Sato 7,
Nicholas 2, Tsartsaris 8, Diamantidis 20(7rbs, 5as), Vougioukas 5, Calathes 2, Kaimakoglou 2
Gamequotes
Zeljko Obradovic, Panathinaikos, Head Coach: “It is not the end of the world. We are in a great position in the Euroleague. It is still very early. Olimpija is a team with many problems that was built from scratch. It played better and deserved to win. We tried, but this is life, This is basketball. Olimpija was more motivated than us. If Diamantidis had made all three free throws it would have been a miracle. Simply because he was exhausted. But I ask myself this question. How am I to substitute Diamantidis? Certain players of mine have not proven to have the quality for such encounters. This is my decision and I do not wish to complain about it. It is always wonderful to compete in Ljubljana . Some people on my team have to comprehend their role. It is not enough to fight for 20 or even 25 minutes. We all make mistakes and I start with my own. In basketball as in life you must have a motive. If you have a motive you have no limits. If you play without a motive there is no point. Everyone knows who Mike is. And anyone who loves basketball, loves Mike. He made a mistake and I asked him to apologize. I did too, to the team of Olimpija”.
