Panathinaikos got Basket League OPAP playoffs semifinals series 1-0, edging Panionios 84-61 at the OAKA, the two teams setting a date at the OAKA arena once more for Friday (May 31), at 20.00.
The lead fell in Panathinaikos’ possession from tip-off. Dimitris Diamantidis was the guy to undertake the assignment of leading the team, getting the score board reading 13-6 (4’30’’), first quarter to rest 21-14. Panionios used pressure, won some rebound battles, managing to pick up its trail (21-18, 11’). The Greens however had responses. Maciulis, Ukic, Lasme, Curry, all provided solutions the gap mounting to +14 (38-24, 17’30’’), half time going into session, the edge at +11 for the hosts (41-30).
Panathinaikos went for an ideal second half opening. Ramel Curry draining a pair of good triples in less than a minute to send the gap to +16 (47-30, 21’), adding a perfect pass to his achievements next, assisting Stephane Lasme in aiding his team step away further to +19 (49-30, 21’30’’). Kostas Tsartsaris was the player to expand the gap even further, upping the ante to +20 points for the first time in the eve (53-33, 23’). Curry continued to get game flexing the score to 59-36 (25’) praise to yet another one of his triples. And on he went, to net yet another trifecta to 67-41 (27’30’’). The Greens broke away further behind Sofoklis Schortsanitis, player to offer his team an even more advantageous lead of 28 points (71-43, 29’20’’), same player to lead to +29 (74-45, 31’45’’). The game was essentially over… Panathinaikos got up by 31 (78-47, 34’), only for the buzzer to sound, score board resting at 84-61.
Referees: Koromilas, Papapetrou, Panagiotou
Quarters: 21-14, 41-30, 71-45, 84-61
Panathinaikos (Pedoulakis): Schortsanitis 10, Bramos 3, Curry 14 (5as), Maciulis 10 (3st), Ukic 7 (4as), Lasme 11, Tsartsaris 9, Diamantidis 11 (8as), Gist, 2 Guinn 4, Xanthopoulos, Skordilis 3
Panionios (Sferopoulos): Bogris 2, Payne 11, Athineou 2, Keys, Milburne 8, Athanassoulas 4, Batis, Jankovic 10, Kavvadas 4, Pappas 14, Agravanis 4, Booker 2
Press Conference
Argyris Pedoulakis, Panathinaikos Head Coach, stated in the post game Press Conference: “It was a mature game for us, in which we respected ourselves and Panionios, a team with depth and youth, with a clear game plan. We approached the game having defense as our guide, defense which at a certain points reached quite a pleasing level. We got better low-post defense in third quarter, got to uncontested shots and essentially the game was over, us getting a mentality boost. We got the series 1-0 but our mind is on the game to come, one which we must approach once more maturely”.
Panionios Head Coach, Giannis Sferopoulos, stated: “Congratulations to Panathinaikos and its coach. They won fair and square. We tried to present a competitive face and actually pulled it off during first half, even though Panathinaikos got the gap to double figures. The game ended in third quarter. We stepped out loosely in defense for second half and failed to circulate the ball appropriately. We allowed Panathinaikos to uncontested shots and it scored from beyond the arc to stretch the gap. That was what made us lose our focus. We were bad through that period of time, result being third quarter to be the game giver. We aspire in presenting a more competitive character. We will now on concentrate on the next clash, so as to be able to appear improved on Friday”.
Mike Bramos stated: “Panionios is a great team; we know it and we had to step out on court maturely. We did great for second half, got to unguarded shots, established a score advantage and managed to win. We must put this game behind us and focus on the next”.
Mark Payne stressed: “We had aspired to fight versus Panathinaikos, a huge team. We wanted to give them a hard time, lead them away from the things they perform well inbounds. We did a good job for first half but in the second half they made three pointers, paced themselves and this hurt us. We proceed onto the next game and it is all we can do”.
