Panathinaikos presented two different sides to its game at the Helliniko indoor arena. In the first half it remained close in score with opponent AEK, however, in the second half it went for a huge improvement in its performance to easily cruise to victory by 95-78.
The greens were unable to prove their given stature during the first half of the clash, situation which resulted in teams heading towards the locker rooms for the break with only 2 points a gap (42-44), Zeljko Obradovic having made observation after observation with a strict sentiment posing notoriously all over his posture, also seeing his boys remaining at 0 in three pointers.
All that was said during the first 2 minutes and at intermission seemed not to fall on to deaf ears, changes more than apparent on the floor in the second half of the game. Third quarter was the key to Panathinaikos’s prevalence. A 0-14 and a 2-20 led to 54-72 at 30’, Fotsis, Diamantidis, Nicholas and Tsartsaris in the ensuing encounter adding towards the creation of a stable safety cushion all the way down to the clutch and final game score 78-95, clover win.
Quarters: 22-23, 42-44, 54-72, 78-95
AEK (Gekos): Castle 8, Nikolaidis 11, Mack 11, Dikoudis 18, Antonakis, Kallinikidis, Sparks 2, Grundy 28
Panathinaikos (Obradovic): Tepic 9, Perperoglou 2, Fotsis 8, Sato 8 (6rbs), Nicholas 11, Tsartsaris 19 (7rbs, 6df), Diamantidis 17, Vougioukas 8, Calathes 5, Kaimakoglou 8 (6rbs)
Press Conference
Zeljko Obradovic, Panathinaikos Head Coach: “Our opponent was highly motivated. All teams are highly motivated when facing us and this we know all too well. Our goal is for us to illustrate even more of a motive in every game. The third quarter is what provided us with the victory. It was the period of time in which we played defense, ran, collaborations took place, good motion in offense; Congratulation to AEK for its competitiveness”.
Minas Gekos, AEK Head Coach: “When facing Panathinaikos you must do many things well and also have luck on your side. We tried and stayed alive in the match for a measurable time span. We are facing quite a few injuries, we cracked under Panathinaikos’s pressure in the second half but we must look ahead. It is going to be a hard first round after the holidays and we hope to do the best possible”.
