A single quarter was all Panathinaikos needed in order to establish a pleasing pace and reach to an easy road win against Kolossos at Rhodes , for HEBA Greek League day 4. The greens dominated by 83-53, Zeljko Obradovic clearing off the bench for the clash, offering some time to Drew Nicholas, who returned after sitting out encounters with Peristeri and Efes Pilsen (he had suffered a sprain in the game versus Olimpija Ljubljana).
From the first minutes of the second quarter it was more than apparent that Panathinaikos had found rhythm. After the beginning of the matchup, were Kolossos had managed to take its guest by surprise behind great defense, rebound control and exploitation of any defensive misdemeanor of the greens resulted in the home team leading. The hosts were up by 7 at 4’50’’ (13-6), point at which Obradovic called for his first time-out. A pair of triples swapped between Diamantidis and Tepic, as the teams returned to the floor cut the clover trail down to 1 (13-12, 6’), however Kolossos’s players did not leave the green siege unanswered as the soared to 20-14 (9’10’’), quarter finally resting at 23-17. Round about this time, Panathinaikos’s defense got immensely stronger, meaning trouble for Yannis Sferopoulos’s players. 23-17 turned into 23-37 (17’30’’), partial score for the second quarter 26-5.
The game’s image failed to change in the second half of the encounter. Backcourt provided solutions, aided Panathinaikos to get to steals, run and force Kolossos to commit many turnovers. The meekest distance between teams on the score board was 12 points (35-47, 23’40’’), Panathinaikos upped the ante to a 20 point cushion (49-69, 34’30’’) and kept on adding all the way up to +30 an edge (53-83) at the final buzzer.
Referees: Piloidis, Manos, Tsonos
Quarters: 23-17, 29-42, 44-62, 53-83
Kolossos Rhodes (Sferopoulos): Calathes P. 8, Avgenikos, Jordan 12, Manolopoulos, Asimakopoulos 4, Ford 15, Charissis 2, Tsamis 6, Pappas 2, Peterson 1, Danas, Ivanovic 3
Panathinaikos (Obradovic): Tepic 7, Maric 6, perperoglou 7, Batiste 2, Fotsis 9, Sato 6, Nicholas 8, Tsartsaris 3 , Diamantidis 9 (5as), Vougioukas 12, Calathes N. 9 (6rbs), Kaimakoglou 5
Game quotes
Kostas Kaimakoglou stated after the encounter: “For us today, it was very difficult to control our fatigue in both body and mind after a very tough matcup with Efes Pilsen. We finished late on Thursday last, continued with a single practice and a trip on the next day and today it was the game’s time. The key was certainly defense, which was exquisite. We received 53 points, but one should notice that 23 of them were received only in the first quarter hence we suffered only 30 points in the rest of the clash. This is the main thing for this season and we will never cease to aim to becoming better. We respect every opponent let it be in the Greek League or the Euroleague and we are surely preparing for what’s next”.
