Panathinaikos arrived this evening, slightly after 20.00h at the “Eleftherios Venizelos”airport, having fulfilled its obligations at the tournament in Sofia , in views of its ensuing preparation at the OAKA and what’s in store for the team next in the upcoming tournament of Rethymno (21-23 September).
The coach of the clover, Argyris Pedoulakis stressed upon the team’s arrival: “We spotted many positive elements praise to the two friendly games. We have improved in some areas of our offense. Automations have not yet kicked in, it is quite tough, needs time and we are all well aware of it. We input a great effort to be able to cover our empty spots on the roster, especially in point guard position, key players of the game. It was something I really enjoyed because you must learn to live with your problems. Euroleague and the Greek League are like a Marathon , it is a certainty that trouble is bound to arise throughout its duration and the team must be prepared to respond immediately and effectively to these issues. This is this essence of competing at the highest level in sports”.
When asked if certain players could be distinguished based on performance, but also about Sofoklis Schortsanitis taking many attempts and actually making the most of them, Pedoulakis stressed: “I cannot pick out which player I enjoyed the most out of these two games. The team is like an automobile. The driver plays his part but everything must be functioning to perfection. Everyone must establish their role. In order for Sofoklis to be able to score for example, all the other guys functioned correctly and aided him immensely. We all understood that in these particular games we had an advantaged in the paint. In other encounters we will have an advantage in another area. In both games, the absence of Diamantidis and Ukic was quite apparent. There were players who played quite a lot, such as Maciulis, who performed for 32 minutes in the first game and 35 in the second. This is something that should not happen. On the other hand, it was a quality shortcoming, the gap formed by the two, as we were missing the brains of the team’s mechanism. They do not only offer their personal technical elements but under the manner which they compete they aid the other guys in becoming better players. There are guys who are unable to create all by themselves and need these two guys”.
