Immediately after the end of the game Zeljko Obradovic stressed: “It was a truly tough game. The games were more or less identical. The guys showed character as a team. They played very well from the very beginning of the game. I said yesterday that I was by their side”, said ‘Zots’ initially and then went on to add: “Today we were doing well from the start. In the second and third game we lost by a single shot. This time we played with absolute concentration from the very beginning. Do you remember something I told you yesterday? My players have character and deserve to be congratulated. I support them and am very proud of them. Now the series is at 2-2 and we still have one game, so the chances will be 50-50. It is a great opportunity for everyone to watch yet another big game. These games are always special. It is the kind of games that people enjoy watching. On my mobile I have already received four messages for tickets.” After that ‘Zots’ was also asked about the preparation before Panathinaikos’ big victory, particularly as far as the players’ psychology is concerned. “You must psychologically prepare yourself very well before every game. If you remember we talked about the turnovers. The way we played today we ended up committing very few turnovers”, he said at first, and then added immediately after: “There were many differences between tonight and Tuesday. We clearly played better. It is not easy to correct your mistakes. Nevertheless, everything is still open. Maccabi is a good team and has character. We must play well and we know how to do that.” Finally, Obradovic was asked to comment on Kostas Kaimakoglou’s performance too. “Kaimakoglou was not good just on this game. I agree that he played exceptionally well. He was excellent, but it was not just him: it was the entire team. The same goes for Smith too, and so does for Calathes, who was an easy mark; he played very well and there were many who spoke about the last shot in the previous game. He went on to underline: “The whole team did very well. Saras too performed well and was the Jasikevicius that we all come to respect. And Diamantidis played 35 minutes and so did Batiste. Everyone who played very well deserves to be congratulated and we also expect other players to perform well too, because this is a crucial period in the season.”
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