Panathinaikos defeated Iraklis at the indoor OAKA stadium 101-68 for game 20 of the HEBA league.
Panathinaikos was unable to establish the pace it had hoped for in the first half of the clash, neither in defence nor in offence. It had however first say on the floor, started off behind a 9-0 run (3’35’’), Zeljko Obradovic having lined up Tepic, Sato, Kaimakoglou, Tsartsaris and Vougioukas for his initial 5; a 5 set out across from Iraklis, who competed at the OAKA arena behind a 9 member roster. The Iraklis players reacted, cut the trail (10-8, 5’35’’). The greens mounted +11 a cushion (24-13 at 8’40’’, 26-15 at 9’10’’), cruising easily on to +14 for the first time at 16’ (47-33), seeing on to a half time closing score, 53-41.
Kostas Tsartsaris behind 4 consecutive points sent the gap to expand further than 20 points initially at 24’50’’ (69-48), Antonis Fotsis marked +31 (82-51, 28’10’’). Bogris combined with Tepic to mark +41 (99-58, 36’50’’). Romain Sato drilling the most impressive bucket of the clash set 101-66 (39’), only to see on to final game score 101-68.
Referees: Afentoulidis, Kaldiris, Tzafleris
Quarters: 28-20, 53-41, 84-54, 101-68
Panathinaikos (Obradovic): Tepic 15 (8rbs, 5as), Perperoglou 14, Batiste 4, Fotsis 13, Sato 6, Nicholas 6, Tsartsaris 7, Diamantidis 11 (5as), Vougioukas 11, Calathes 4 (6as), Bogris 2, Kaimakoglou 8 (7rbs)
Iraklis (Hugaz): Petalotis, Parker 17, Demertzis 5, Angelakopoulos 14, Marmarinos 3, Tsalkitzis, Petrovic 18, Despos 1, Coleman 10
HappyBirthday!
Zeljko Obradovic celebrated his 51st birthday and stepping on to court was welcomed with warm wishes, happy birthday songs from the speakers but also a bouquet of flowers on behalf of the fans.
Press conference
Zeljko Obradovic expressed his satisfaction for his players’ defensive performance in the clash across form Iraklis, Milenko Tepic and Nick Calathes especially, as he stated at the press conference after the encounter: “We saw Iraklis’ two resent victories. It competed exquisitely in both games. It is a very different team compare to the one we performed against at their home court Ivanofio and I am not referring to the roster. We spoke with our players and instructed them to compete behind tough defence and get to the game we like: running and score off the fast break; But also that we must be prepared for Iraklis’s zone defence. In the first half we committed 8 unforced mistakes, unravelled great offences but came up short in defence. Parker had 12 points and 9 assists in the first half. It was imperative that we change something in our defence. We managed to do so, obviously. The important thing is that we have players who are willing to make sacrifices for the team. Tepic and Calathes played superb defence. Maybe the fans don’t see it, only look out for whoever scores. The important thing is someone to compete well at both ends of the court. Our best quarter was the third in which we played behind Diamantidis, Sato, Perperoglou, Fotsis and Tsartsaris. Congratulations to my colleague, I can relate to the difficulty of performing behind only 6 or 7 players. To me, they competed great and I wish them good luck”.
Milenko Tepic stressed: “We did not have so great an attitude, especially in defense. The opponents scored easy buckets, 41 overall in half a game, something that is not good. Next we got better, received only 27 points, thus we reached the final +33 advantage. We can’t wait for the games across from Aris and Barcelona . We have lots of time to prepare for both encounters and I hope we are in good shape”.
Iraklis’s Head Coach, Chris Hugaz, stated: “Congratulations to Panathinaikos for a fair win. We tried to be competitive as best as possible. We came with 7 pros but we must not focus on the problems. Casualties are added up at the end, not now. We have trouble in the paint; we compete mostly from the perimeter. We tried to cover form the inside the positions of the players that have left. I am proud to be the coach of these players. All the best next for Panathinaikos in Greece and across from Barcelona ”, the Head Coach of Iraklis closed.
Vassilis Angelakopoulos added: “It was a tough game for us. Panathinaikos is one of the best teams in Europe . We have many problems. We are coping with the change of our coach. We have committed two victories. The important thing is that we are still live and kicking. Before coach came along we did not have a “team image”. We take it one game at a time. We will see what we can manage. Good luck to Panathinaikos in the Greek League but also in the series of games across from Barcelona for the Euroleague. Greek Basket is in need of successes”.
