Panathinaikos bids goodbye to the year that is soon ending by staying ‘on the right side of the track’. It clinched a very difficult (but also very important) victory in Crete, by beating Rethymnon by 77-72, in a game that stayed unswervingly interesting to the very end. The “Greens” came across a lot of difficulties, but in the end it was the experience of its players along with Mike Batiste’s world class that made it enough for them to return to Athens with victory in their luggage.
Panathinaikos was off to a good start, leading by 0-4, but only …temporarily, since Rethymnon immediately regained control of the game, making the most of its prevalence in rebounds and the “Greens’” turnovers. Christmas was unstoppable from the three-point line and, assisted by Latovic, gave his team a six-point lead by minute 6’ (15-9). Vougioukas’ and Diamantidis’ entering on court changed the “clover’s” pace and crunched the gap down to 20-18 by minute 11΄, but the European champions continued making unforced errors (24-18, 13’). Thanks to Kostas Kaimakoglou’s good performance both defensively and offensively, Panathinaikos closed in (24-22). A scoring outburst by Rethymnon pushed the difference to a seven-point lead (31-24); but at this point the “Greens” had gotten wide awake and kept showing their good side right until the end of the first half. With 3/3 three-pointers (Calathes, Kaimakoglou, and Sato) and playing good defense they got they lead by 31-33 which was the final score of the first half. What was left behind from the first half of the game were the 8 turnovers committed by Panathinaikos and the 9 offensive rebounds that the home team grabbed!
By a new three-pointer shot by Sarunas Jasikevicius this time Panathinaikos broke away in the score (33-38), but Papanikolaou and Wright gave the lead back to Rethymnon (43-42, 23’). The “Greens” shifted the game totally in the paint, where Mike Batiste was unstoppable, while at the same time they also tightened their defense forcing Rethymnon to consecutive unsuccessful three-pointers (and not just those). At 29' the score was 47-56 (by a three-pointer by Sato) and the third quarter found the “clover” in an eight-point lead (49-57) having gotten completely into pace.
Panathinaikos got strong into the game in the last quarter and broke away in the score 54-63 (34’) seemingly “finishing off” the game, but Rethymnon made a last ditch effort. With a lasting counterattack and being successful in long-range shots it managed to make a comeback. With Lavitovic scoring 2/2 three-pointers it cut down the scoring gap (61-65, 35’30’’) and came even closer by bagging the offensive rebounds once again (68-70, 38’). At this point, though, Mike Batiste got the “upper hand” and by carrying the team “on his shoulders” led Panathinaikos to victory by 77-72.
By quarter: 20-17, 31-33 (halftime), 49-57, 72-77
Rethymnon (Koufos): Wright 16, Kallinikidis, Petway 11, Christmas 9, Latovic 14, Dorkofikis 2, Papanikolaou 6, Johnson 6, Koumoulos, Katsares 5, Tsoklas 3
Panathinaikos (Obradovic): Calathes 9, Batiste 22, Smith 2, Logan 3, Sato 10, Diamantidis 7, Vougioukas 6, Kaimakoglou 11, Jasikevicius 7, Tsartsaris, Maric
Obradovic: Not a chance, if we continue this way
Zeljko Obradovic spoke about the game, refereeing, and not just that, after the end of the game, asking again all his players to help: “Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone. I wish good health for all. We prepared very seriously about this particular game. Rethymnon is a team that plays very aggressively both in offence and defense, and defends itself very well throughout the court, constantly changing its defense patterns. Offensively, they have chosen to utilize the individual skills of its players and they deserve to be congratulated for what they do. There is nothing better for the Greek championship than having teams like Rethymnon. There was a great atmosphere in the arena created by fans of both teams. They too deserve to be congratulated and I would like to thank Panathinaikos’ fans for standing by our side once again. Congratulations to our players too for the victory, but also to our opponents for fighting to the end.”
Obradovic also referred to the technical foul to Panathinaikos’ bench: “There were several disputed situations. In Euroleague there is the instant replay that helps referees make the right decision, and also helps the fans understand what is right. It is a really great help. In every meeting, we ask that instant replay is also used in Greece; they have promised it will be introduced in our championship as well, because it is good for all of us. It actually makes the referees’ job easier. I repeat that these have to do with the clock and whether a shot is valid or not. I have no doubt whatsoever about the referees’ will to play a fair game and this goes without saying from the beginning of a game. Unfortunately, however, the level of refereeing today was not the level required by the game. It is natural for the entire bench to react in every situation; and in that particular case it is crystal clear that Wright was the one who got the ball out. We all reacted because it was so obvious. It is only natural that Rethymnon too would react in a similar case. If that was the criterion, then they should have called more than 20 technical fouls. In any case, it was an interesting game.”
Referring to the overall performance of his players, Obradovic did not beat around the bush in view of the rest of the games in the Euroleague Top16: “We have no chance of continuing in Euroleague if some of the players who perform poorly during this period do not improve and help the team.”
Kostas Tsartsaris underlined: “We faced one of the strongest teams in the championship. We committed some turnovers in the first half and they got the lead. In the second half we corrected our mistakes and limited Rethymnon’s performance, got ahead in the score, but again due to our own turnovers they got to tie the game and claimed a positive outcome. In the end, we got the necessary concentration right when we needed to and ultimately got to win. Congratulations to Rethymnon and I wish that the new year brings them even more successes. An injury is a bad thing for any athlete. I wanted to be focused and perform at high quality for the team. What I want is to improve day by day and be ready for the Top16 games.”
As regards the Euroleague draw, he said: “There is no such thing as a good or a bad draw. The point is how we perform. We are starting from scratch. Everyone wants to win and they all want to defeat the European Champions. We must rise to the occasion and, if we want to achieve something good, change our mentality and play much better than we do now.”
