Panathinaikos set sound foundations towards prevailing from the first quarter of the clash to down PAOK in the indoor Pylaia stadium 84-61, in views of game 14 of the HEBA league, Milenko Tepic however sidelined for the greens facing back trouble, Romain Sato though returning back to action.
“A warm start-off”, had been requested by the technical staff from the players of Panathinaikos and so it was. Diamantidis, Nicholas, Kaimakoglou, Fotsis and Batiste who found themselves in the initial line-up put the pedal to the metal and broke away from tip-off, holding fast to the game’s reigns for their team’s favor. Batiste started first, Diamantidis drilled a three to mark 4-12 (4’45’’) and the greens paced themselves from then forward. A pair of fouls of both Mike Batiste and Kostas Kaimakoglou respectively, led to first substitutions (Vougioukas and Perperoglou), Zeljko Obradovic swapping Kostas Tsartsaris for Antonis Fotsis’s spot on the court. Rhythm failed to drop; Drew Nicholas seemed to be firing away from under the basket instead of beyond the arc and behind 3-for-4 triple stats aided the clover to step away from its guest by a 20 point distance (18-38, 15’). Ian Vougioukas and Nicholas led Panathinaikos to get up by +22 (20-42 at 16’40’’, 22-44 at 17’24’’). A pair of three-point-plays off Papadopoulos and Yannakidis seemed to provide the hosts with a sense of solution, as hence they managed to cut the trail down to 13 point at the intermission (33-46).
The clover returned to the game accelerating its gear, expanding the gap with PAOK. The lead priced itself back at its +20 point stature (33-53, 22’50’’), but the home-team managed to come-back in the gap and close the gap even more than before, this time to 11 points (42-53, 28’20’’), as Dedas heaved in a triple, the first of the eve for PAOK (1-for-10). Obradovic in the last minute of the third quarter pulled Romain Sato off the bench, player who returned to action after the sprain he had suffered a couple of days before the team departed for Lithuania and the encounter versus Lietuvos Rytas. The same time the score board was reading 42-56, off a basket+1 behind Batiste (28’20’’), Michalis marking also 44-58 third quarter score flushing the ball notoriously.
Diamantidis and Sato joined forces in order to jog the clover in sailing ahead to an 18 point cushion in the first half of the fourth quarter (44-62, 31’), the captain performing already behind 10 assists, one over PAOK’s accumulated assists up to this point (17 for Panathinaikos). The dynamic duo continued towards 49-67 (32’33), Diamantidis in the mood, leading the distance from PAOK to a larger gap than 20 points as he unleashed a trifecta (49-70, 33’43’’). Sato topped his actions (51-72, 35’), Kostas Tsartsaris led to +22 (56-78, 37’53’’), Sato stoke again this time hitting a pair of threes to +23 first with score 58-81 at 38’15’’ and then 61-84 at 39’25’’, final score of the match-up.
Referees: Christodoulou, Somos, Manos
Quarters: 12-23, 33-46, 44-58, 61-84
PAOK (Markopoulos): Marshall 5, Arapis 3, Apostolidis 2, Dedas 10, Dozier 4, Gray 6, Papadopoulos 11, Yannakidis 5, Kalles, Gecevski 12, Kalabakas 3
Panathinaikos (Obradovic): Perperoglou 8, Batiste 11, Fotsis 2 (6rbs), Sato 12, Nicholas 14 (4-for-5 3’s, 4as), Tsartsaris 7 (8rbs), Diamantidis 14 (10as, 5rbs), Vougioukas 11, Calathes 3 (4as), Bogris, Kaimakoglou 2, Zoubos
Perperoglou: “Serious and we will make it”
Stratos Perperoglou stated after the end of the encounter: “We played quite well and certainly the fact that stadium was empty, was neither good for PAOK or us. We committed a good performance that helped us get to an easy win. We are at a very crucial point of the season, in both Greece and Euroleague and what we aspire towards is to present ourselves ready to go in every game, no matter which league we are competing for. Ahead of us now is the game versus Unicaja Malaga at our home-court and we want the positive result. We want the home wins and if we are serious we will make it”.
Press Conference
Zeljko Obradovic congratulated his players for the victory across from PAOK plus their good performance in the Pylaia indoor stadium: “We had 3-for-3 road wins and I believed that this would help us in maintaining our focus. Something that actually happened and it is very important. It is a very positive message for the team, the fact that Sato returning from an injury performed well at both ends of the court and that in less than 12 minutes scored 12 points. I must congratulate all on their concentration and the very good game we committed. Certain mistakes were made on PAOK’s zone press, which we must see for the ensuing season. It saddens me, the fact that such an encounter between two legendary teams was committed in views of empty fans’ stands. It is a shame”.
When asked about the injuries that are troubling Panathinaikos, Obradovic stressed: “Injuries affect a team. I can’t even remember the last time we were all together in practice. It is an issue that presents as with problems when trying to face it. Even one player’s absence is enough to affect the entire team”.
Ian Vougioukas stated: “All teams when facing Panathinaikos hope to give it their best. It is what I remember us doing when I was competing for Rethymno or Panellinios. It is what PAOK did, but we played presumably well. We managed to land quite a cushion early in the game and maintain in into the clutch. We hope to continue as good as this in Euroleague, as we began with the victory in Lithuania at the Top16 premier”.
Soulis Markopoulos, PAOK Head Coach, stressed: “Panathinaikos got to a fair win. It was better in every aspect of the game. To be able to face such a good team, so well organized as Panathinaikos, you must play very well and get your opponent on not such a good night. Neither happened today; Panathinaikos was very focused. Maybe it was assisted by the fact that it had to react after its loss from Olympiakos. We did not play the way we could and wanted. Add this to Panathiniakos’s defensive performance and the fact that we got certain easy baskets against us, which aided the opponent to build a difference. I did not see in my players the motive they should have had, the one Vougioukas mentioned, playing across from Panathinaikos, but our rival in addition did not allow us to commit our game. We have tough games ahead at the beginning of the second round and we must be focused in order to live up to expectations”. As far as Lazaros Papadopoulos and his absence during the last few days from the team’s activities, he said: “Coach Obradovic said that no matter who is missing from practice, it is a problem; All the more when we are missing Papadopoulos”.
Yorgos Dedas stressed: “We did not live up to the game’s demands. We did not start off with energy something that we usually do. Even when we cut the trail down to 12 points, we made mistakes and Panathinaikos got to an easy win”.
All-around number one for the captain!
Dimitris Diamantidis reached to the top spot of yet another statistic category in his career. Slightly earlier he had reached number one of the all-time best “dishrers” in the history of the Greek League. Today in the clash with PAOK he reached top spot of the list with the best “thieves”, flying ahead yet again of Angelos Koronios. Stepping on to the court he caught Koronios at the top (583) and slightly later he left him trailing in second place mounting 584 steals in 342 games in the Greek League.
