Zeljko Obradovic did not have all that much to say about the game against Kavala and also answered a question regarding articles that talked about Real Madrid’s interest in him.
“The game was as we expected it to be. Kavala plays the same way all through the season, with many penetrations and a lot of three-point shots. They played a very good game and I do not believe that the 22 points that we beat them by reflect the reality. With the exception of the first minutes, we tried to play seriously. We now have the game on Friday, where I believe there will be some differences”, said the “clover’s” coach initially only to go on and answer a question raised regarding rumors from Spain concerning an interest on the part of Real Madrid: “I have been here for 13 years and I will say it once again…during the competition season my mind is only on my team and my team alone. I will only think about the game on Friday and each game at a time. What they say about my entourage and people close to me are things I do not understand and do not care about. My life is here, with Panathinaikos, and I am enjoying it. I do not read newspapers, do not listen to the radio, do not watch TV, and my life is wonderful. Rumors do not concern me… the only information I get through the media is reading some of my opponents’ statistics. So, it seems that there are probably some people in this world who know my life better than I do…”
Stratos Perperoglou stated: “After the game against Olympiakos we wanted to have a good performance. Congratulations to Kavala for the way they played. We have one more game for the Greek Cup, where we must have a similar performance and play better.”
Kavala’s coach, Dimitris Priftis, noted: “The difference of the dynamic between the two teams is well-known. We came here to have a good performance and we managed to do so in the first three quarters. What troubled us was the low post game with Vougioukas, as well as the defense in pick-and-roll situations. Toward the end we also lost our team spirit that is why the score margin was as extensive. Now we have the Cup game ahead of us, where we are facing some minor problems with Pasalic’s and Taylor’s injuries. I neither foresee nor expect anything to change. This is the kind of games that we want to draw experience from.”
Kavala player, Nikos Angelopoulos, said: “We were facing one of the top European teams. We have had a good streak of three victories and good performances. We wanted to carry on having such good performance, and managed to do so for three quarter, but when you play against Panathinaikos you have to be focused for 40’. In the fourth quarter we momentarily lost our concentration and Panathinaikos got such a big lead. We are now going into the Cup game the same way.”
*Panathinaikos played without Mike Batiste and Steven Smith, both of whom were out with injuries.
