Panathinaikos make a big step towards March 6th’s final, as it defeated Aris 87-58 at the OAKA arena in views of the Greek Cup’s semifinals.
Panathinaikos had a rough time trying to establish some sense of a pace breaking away from tip-off, across from a very intense from time to time defense of opponent Aris, not always competing with a clear mind in certain offensive attempts. Nevertheless from minute one it had first say on the floor. The game begun behind a 4-0 run (2’10’’), the greens were up 19-5 at 6’45’’ and 24-10 at 8’30’’, first quarter closing at 24-16. Second quarter was a better period of time for Aris. It enfoced even more pressure, crept up to 4 (39-35, 17’50’’), teams heading towards the locker rooms score board reading 43-37, Panathinaikos however still in quest of rhythm and good range, as after 20 minutes game time it had 17/24 free-throws (70%), 7/16 twos’ (43%) and 4/11 threes’ (36%), totally balance in rebounding with its opponent (17-17).
Tucker performing behind 18 points closed the gap back down to 4 (43-39, 20’20’’), game recommencing. Panathinaikos stuck back behind a 10-0 run of its own all the way up to 53-39 (23’15’’), only for Aris to input an immediate response back down to 53-46 (24’45’’). Tsartsaris (competing at center position) joined forces with Tepic to aid the clover in cruising all the way up to a sweet 15 point cushion (63-48, 27’35’’), Diamantidis doing his trademark 3D act, dribbling, driving and dishing to make his teammates’ court-lives easier. The aforementioned Serbian guard was he who unraveled a three-point-play to jog the greens to +18 (66-48, 28’40’’), Nick Calathes adding to +19 (68-49, 29’25’’), Kostas Tsartsaris chipping in even further to get third quarter closing score to 70-49, a 21 point distance for the home-team.
Fourth quarter took off aggressively for the greens, who managed to mount a 29 point edge (80-51, 34’25) and then a +30 point advantage (82-52, 36’) Stratos Perperoglou go-to-guy of the moments who also formed the +31 lead (82-52, 36’), youngster Bogris after a battle for a defensive board going to the board to draw a foul and make 1-for-2 from the line to 87-56, Linos Chrissikopoulos scoring last in the clash to fix final game score at 87-58.
Referees: Tanatzis, Psarianos, Andrikopoulos
Quarters: 24-16, 43-37, 70-49, 87-58
Panathinaikos (Obradovic): Tepic 14, Perperoglou 6, Fotsis 4, Sato 11, Tsartsaris 19, Diamantidis 11, Vougioukas 10, Calathes 5, Karamalegos, Bogris 1, Kaiamkoglou 6, Zoubos
Aris (Drucker): Brown 1, Dunston 8, Tapoutos 5, Tucker 21, Tsairelis 5, Hatzivrettas , Charalabidis 3, Skordilis 2, Borovnjak 12, Chryssikopoulos 2, Sloukas 11, Koubouras
*Usual suspects were sidelined; Mike Batiste, Drew Nicholas and Aleks Maric. The dynamic trio signed autographs and had their pictures taken with kids from Panathinaikos’s little leagues that were present at the arena for the game from Ioannina and Kozani. The little balers also received gifts from the official PAO SHOP.
*The second semi is to be held on the 9th of February at the “Alexandrio” arena.
Press Conference
Zeljko Obradovic, Panathinaikos, Head Coach: “We had stated during the previous days that we ought to entirely forget about the game in the Greek League, that we were dealing with a totally different encounter. Aris came to fight for the best possible, presented its lay-out with tall forwards and though we started off well, we relaxed during the second quarter, were unlucky to the basket, did not return correctly, forgot to steer clear of turnovers, failed to see traps set on us by Aris in the paint. In the second half we reacted correctly. It was a tough matchup for us. Think that we are competing with only foreigners Tepic and Sato. We must be the only team in Europe ! And at this point I would like to especially thank my younger players, Bogris and Zoubos-Karamalegos who help so that we can practice correctly and at a high level of intensity.
Although I do not like to name names, I must say something about Tsartsaris. He performed a great game in the second half, as did the entire team during that period of time. We have quite a few games until the second semifinal and there are many things to think about. We have set certain goals and we will try to do anything possible to fulfill them”. After being asked if the possibility of signing on a new player exists, Obradovic answered: “Anything is possible…”
Dimitris Diamantidis, Panathinaikos, Player: “We took our time to wake-up to the game, reacted with tardiness, Aris kept close at score but in the second half we improved our game, contained our opponent more efficiently in defense and created a pleasing cushion. This cushion though is not excuse for the second semifinal in Thessaloniki . We will try to improve our game, as we know that tough games are coming up and our desire is to be in the best state possible. We have imported absences and it will be a tremendous plus for us if our sidelined players return to action. We respect all of our opponents; our goal is to win every game…”
Shaton Drucker, Aris, Head Coach: “I would like to congratulate Panathinaikos for its victory. In contrary with the Greek League game, were we failed even to present ourselves on court, at least tonight we fought all the way down to the end of the third quarter. We had a 5 minute bad spell and there all was destroyed. I told the boys to learn from those 5 minutes. We have the Greek League, Eurocup and we must continue…”
Anthony Tucker, Aris, Player: “Every time you step foot on this court you know you are up against the best. We work hard and today we ought to learn from our mistakes. In the secong game we will fight just as we do in every encounter”.
