Panathinaikos Head Coach, Argyris Pedoulakis, stated after the end of the clash versus Anadolu Efes: “We failed to approach the game as we should have. We had stated that we would have to be very cautious during the first few minutes; we would have to prevent Efes from establishing a pace and further enforce it. We did not do so. We were not good; we were “soft” in defense and allowed our opponents to many unguarded shots which they fully exploited. This offered confidence and good mentality to the home-team to perform an even better game. We were very bad especially during the first quarter. We must check out our mistakes, correct them and improve immediately in view of the ensuing season”.
Sofoklis Schortsanitis stressed: “We started off mighty poorly and we had no energy. We should step out on court intensely from the first minutes and not wait for the game to play out in order for us to improve. We must comprehend that we are in the Top16 and we must provide 100% from minute one. The spreads count at this point. Diamantidis leads us through the games and his absence affected us, but we will not have Dimitris constantly pull us out of the tough spots. Basketball is a team sport and each and every one of us must help with all his might. The road ahead is long and we will fight at every encounter”.
Mike Bramos added: “It was a really bad night for us. Even though our coach had warned us to be more cautious as far as the rhythm issue, we failed to do so; result being Anadolu Efes to take the lead from the very beginning on the floor. It got quite an edge early and we failed to get back in the game. When a team like Efes gets such a lead, things are tough for any opponent to perform a come-back. Diamantidis’ absence is mighty important but we did not lose because we were lacking Diamantidis. Now we must improve, correct our mistakes, get wins in the next game in the Greek League and Euroleague’s next Game Day in order to achieve the best possible in the Top16”.
