Zeljko Obradovic had nothing but positive remarks, concerning Panathinaikos’s performance across from Efes Pilsen, game in which it prevailed immensely at the OAKA stadium.
“I told you, that although we are facing many problems, the players work a great deal and very hard. This resulted in us performing a great game this evening. Only exception, where the first few minutes of the matchup and a certain period of time, towards the end of the second quarter, I believe we played exquisite defense. We managed to run the open field and get to the easy basket. This is what we should try to do in every game. Offensively we found solutions, every time Efes Pilsen changed its defending character. We missed certain easy hoops, but nevertheless we were good. For yet another occasion I would like to thank the team’s friends for creating a magnificent atmosphere. I hope they continue to do so”.
Obradovic answered a question concerning Nick Calathes: “Calathes had a great game so much in defense as in offense. He was calm and did not get to turnovers, not even in the fast breaks. He was well focused and made correct decisions”.
Velimir Perasovic, Efes Pilsen coach, stressed: “We were very good opponents only through the first quarter. Then forward the control in the game clearly belonged to Panathinaikos. We had trouble scoring during the entire game. We tried to feed the ball into the paint to get some easier range. Panathinaikos armed with great defense galloped ahead to a great distance, a fact it maintained all the way down the stretch until final buzzer. Calathes and Perperoglou stood out from today’s clash, it was their introduction to the game that made the difference on the floor. In general, what we have set as first goal is to win a birth into the Top16 round. We are in a very hard tier and qualification is not an easy case. We must proceed step by step".
