Panathinaikos went for a 2-0 run at the PAOK Sports Arena in Thessaloniki . It defeated PAOK 75-69 at the Pylea indoor stadium in game 2 of the HEBA League 2010-11 season play-off series, performing in its 30th consecutive participation in the play-offs, aiming to sweep the line of encounters in the third clash amongst the pair, game to be held on Monday (23/05) at the OAKA arena at 1700h (LT).
An aggressive tip-off beginning was not enough to assure a first half of steady performance for Panathinaikos. 2-2 (1’32’’) flexed swiftly to 2-13 behind an 11-0 streak off the greens which seemed to have established a tempo, clearing off the board and ever effective in offense. Dimanatidis, Sato, Perperoglou, Fotsis, Vougioukas across from Christmas, Stiggers, Yannakidis, Gecevski, Dozier maintained the gap in double digits all the way down to 9’ no matter whatever substitutions Zeljko Obradovic committed (13-23). At +10 (15-25, 10’20’’) the green edge stood game recommencing but from this point forward PAOK gathered certain rebounds, came up with more pleasing range, threatened from a far resulting in it picking up the slack down to 2 off a pair of threes praise to Christmas and Yannakidis (28-30, 15’30’’), Gecevski maintaining the distance at the some statures (30-32, 16’30’’). Panathinaikos counteracted with a 7-0 run, Fotsis and Perperoglou the leading men of the hour, only for the first half to rest at 30-39. Perperoglou was one of the players who had broadly signed the first 20 minutes of the clash, heading towards the locker rooms behind a 17 points scoring accumulation.
The clover forward kept at it, at the same level and at the end of the matchup he stood behind a career high having marked 33 points, as his team prevailed 69-75 at the buzzer.
At the opening of the second half, two technical fouls charged to PAOK allowed Panathinaikos to jog the score board to read 32-45 (21’45’’). Essentially from this point forward the home-team never managed to get up all over their guest. The ante remained at an 18 point gap, Milenko Tepic making 57-75 score at 36’, only for the curtains to fall in the encounter at final 69-75.
Referees: Foufis, Psarianos, Panagiotou
Quarters: 15-23, 30-39, 50-60, 69-75
PAOK (Markopoulos): Christmas 13, Apostolidis 6, Dozier 17, Stiggers 7, Buljan 4, Yannakidis 8, Kalles 10, Gecevski 4, Kalabakas
Panathinaikos (Obradovic): Tepic 8 (5rbs), Maric 2, Perperoglou 33 (4-for-6 3s’), Batiste, Fotsis 10 (8rbs), Sato 2, Nicholas, Tsartsaris, Diamantidis 11, Vougioukas 4, Calathes 3, Kaimakoglou 2
Perperoglou’s career high
Panathinaikos downed PAOK in Thessaloniki behind player of the game Stratos Perperoglou. The clover forward marked a Greek League career high, tallying 33 personal points. His previous standing record was back in 2007 then competing in the Panionios jersey, 25 points scored, in a clash versus AEK. An important to note fact is that the high was achieved behind very pleasing scoring stats (7-for-8 twos, 4-for-6 threes, 7-for-9 free throws) in 31’11’’ playing time. Perperoglou stated after the game: “We expected a much more competitive PAOK in comparison to its image in the first semi. It was much more focused today. We snatched the win we needed and now we are back to Athens for the third game of the series, aiming for 3-0. It is the season’s last goal and we hope to close the year well”. As far as his personal high with his 33 marked points he added: “My teammates helped me out. I was unguarded and made certain shots. The important thing is that the team prevailed. We experienced a period of time after the F4 of the Euroleague in which we ran out of fuel, something which happened without our consent of course, but we have started to function again seeing that we are in the final line”.
Press Conference
Certain players performed maturely, certain didn’t… We must react. We play enough to win”… These were Zeljko Obradovic’s first words in the press conference held after the end of the clash between Panathinaikos and PAOK in Thessaloniki .
“The difference amongst the teams was apparent, especially if we consider the fact that two very important players are sidelined for PAOK, Marshal and Dedas”, the clover coach added, only to continue: “We expected that PAOK would play more aggressively in comparison to what they unraveled during the first clash back in OAKA. This is exactly what happened”.
PAOK Head Coach, Soulis Markopoulos added: “Congratulations to Panathinaikos because it is a better and stronger team than us. We wanted to correct certain things, work on our weaknesses and it was very important that we never gave up even though we knew it was almost impossible to win. Our focus is on the games against Aris. I wish all the best for Panathinaikos next and congratulations for it winning the Euroleague trophy. What I hope for us is that we can be as tough as today when performing against Aris”.
Dante Stiggers stressed: “We performed better, stronger and smarter than the first semi. Panathinaikos has great players but we were more competitive in comparison to the first encounter. Every game for us is a significant deal. We will work towards the third semi and then we will focus on preparing for the next play-off series versus Aris”.
