Zeljko Obradovic saw his team nibbling away the margin that was against it, but at the end of the game was unable to clinch the victory for various reasons.
“We made a very bad start and continued in the same tempo. We were unjustifiably nervous. We knew that Olympiakos was going to press us. In the second half we started off well and for a brief period of time repeated the bad performance of the first half. A coach’s job is to help the players chase after the victory to the very end and this is what I tried to do”, stated Zeljko Obradovic and went on to underline: “There is an issue that I would like to say in a very straight forward manner: the rules and regulations are known to everyone. Mr. Gontas did not assess a flagrant foul against Vougioukas that was good enough to be presented as case study in a seminar, and immediately after assessed Jasikevicius with a technical foul, since according to the referee the player displayed an unbecoming behavior; this is affecting the evolution of the game. In such games, this kind of reactions on the part of the players is commonplace. I believe that the referee decided on this foul. There a flagrant foul that is not assessed when a similar situation occurred during the first half too. I hope that those responsible will analyze the game and so will we.”
The “clover’s” coach also spoke about the last play “I have no reason not to believe the referee, but what sort of competition is this where the referee asks the journalist to clarify whether it was a two-point or a three-point shot? I have no reason not to believe the journalist either, but he is not the competent person to judge this. There is instant replay.” Finishing up, Panathinaikos’ coach said: “Look it up to find which game Gontas did not assess me with a technical foul. It is obvious!”
“Everything is judged at the end”
In his turn, Kostas Kaimakoglou said: “For 30 minutes we did nothing and Olympiakos was in control of the game. We were not composed and made a comeback in the last five minutes. The way things stand, Olympiakos will have the home advantage in the playoffs, but everything is judged at the end. I keep to mind that we made a comeback from behind the score twice; the second time around we challenged them for victory and this is what is important. I hope that we never again have so many periods where we draw a blank.”
