Zeljko Obradovic did not have much blame to …pass around to his players after their performance tonight against Fenerbahce/Ulker. Instead, Panathinaikos’ coach passed around congratulations and also made special mention to the fans, not only those of the Turkish team, but ‘clover’ fans too.
“We began the game very cautiously. We were focused and are very happy with the way in which we fought. We played an excellent game. We kept the opponents down to 56 points, in their home arena at that, something that is very important for the rest of the games. This is something that pleases me and shows that our defense functioned very well. As I had said after the game against Unics Kazan too, nothing is done and over with yet. Everyone has a chance. There are still three games left. What we must do now is to remain on the same level; to continue like this. Congratulations to the players.”
Panathinaikos’ coach went on to refer to the fans, both those of Fenerbahce/Ulker, as well as his team’s: “The atmosphere in the arena today was excellent. I believe that a team such as Fener deserves to have such an arena. Congratulations for the atmosphere they created tonight. What I want to tell our own fans is that they must understand how important the game against Fenerbahce/Ulker at the OAKA is. They must forget tonight’s result and be there to help us. Our opponents are proud people and it is a game that starts from scratch. They will come in to see a completely different game. They must understand that it is decisive for us and we want them to be there by our side, because if you get a bad outcome, we will again face the same situation we had after the game against Unics Kazan. We need the victory because the result will be important for the rest of the competition. On our side, we must continue keeping our concentration, because we have two very difficult games next week.”
Kostas Kaimakoglou, one of the best players on court today, underlined: “I would not say that this victory counteracts the defeat from Unics Kazan. Had we won last week, we would have found ourselves in a vantage point. The thing is that we must learn from our mistakes; we must learn from that defeat; we must not lose in our home arena again. Fenerbahce/Ulker will come to equal the score and play its last trump card. If we win both games against the Turks and the other two that we have at the OAKA afterwards, we have the possibility of landing at a very good spot.”
*Steven Smith was injured during the game. He had problems in his calf and will be subjected to an MRI tomorrow, in order to assess the condition he is in.
