Panathinaikos managed to upset Olympiacos’ home court advantage in the SEF arena. The Greens edged the win by 64-51, got the series 1-0 versus the home team and now await finals game 2 at the OAKA on Sunday (June 9) at 21.00.
The clover dominated the court from the first until the very last minute of the encounter. Olympiacos led only once on the floor (2-1, 2’17’’). From that point forward it found itself chasing Panathinaikos all down the stretch, the latter to prove the better opponent through all categories. The gap started to expand (4-10 at 6’47’’, 6-13 at 7’30’’, 11-19 at 10’).
The key for the Greens was control over the game pace. They led the game towards their aspired direction, controlled the rebounds, getting to second chance offenses, while at the same time got to great three point range. Ukic drilled a triple to get the gap in double digits for the first time in the eve (11-22, 10’45’’), the advantage to grow even to reach +14 (35-49, 27’42’’). The hosts tried, and even though there were times when they would be effective in defense, however they were unable to cash in at the other end of the court. They picked up the trail to 9 points (40-49, 32’28’’) but were unable to react at the end of the encounter. Result was Panathinaikos to get game all the way down to crunch time, even upping the ante all the way up to 19 points (42-61, 37’20’’), prior to the first final being sealed by 51-64, final game score.
Referees: Gontas, Karakatsounis, Panagiotou
Quarters: 11-19, 22-31, 36-49, 51-64
Olympiacos (Bartzokas): Hines 5, Law, Antic, Spanoulis 11, Perperoglou 5, Shermadini, Sloukas 5, Powel 6, Gecevicius 2, Printezis 9, Papanikolaou 6, Katsivelis 2
Panathinaikos (Pedoulakis): Schortsanitis 3, Bramos 11, Curry 6, Maciulis 7, Ukic 12, Lasme 8 (6rbs, 4as, 3bs), Tsartsaris, Diamantidis 4 (7rbs, 4sts), Gist 10 (11rbs), Guinn 3, Xanthopoulos
Press Conference
Panathinaikos Head Coach, Argyris Pedoulakis, stated at the post game Press Conference: “It was a closed game, something which we had aspired towards. We were playing against an extremely good team, which has conquered titles and has had successes through the last few years. We are in a reconstruction phase. Catalysts for us I believe where the rebounds, which prevented them from getting to many offenses and steals. I believe during the second half we had the game momentum, we got the gap into double digits something which passed the pressure over to the Olympiacos camp and it was quite logical. Hence we got to win. The first game is over and we must focus on what’s up next”.
When asked if he has expected to get a win in the SEF granted the fact his team scored 64 points he stated: “Panathinaikos is like a team playing in its first season. It is not logical, all that is happening in Panathinaikos this year so much in Euroleague and the Greek Cup and even now… I believe that for our next season we will be better in offense. We brought the game were we wanted. I believe it is something the guys accomplished. Olympiacos is performing at a high level, has its tactics like all Greek League teams, because it is part of the Greek basketball. Both teams have quality players to be able to administer individuals and situations. Our guys gathered experience throughout the season and we advance through experience. And what is experience? Mistakes… You learn. Certain guys are taking it to the next level and it is something significant. We made some childish turnovers in the last quarter out of enthusiasm. We will analyze them and we’ll see”.
As far as the two last additions, he stated: “Curry provided us with solutions not only in quality but also in quantity. You saw what happened with Law today with Olympiacos. It was an issue, he not being ready today due to the problem he had, given the fact that Olympiacos’ guards were not on their best offensive night. Imagine us who were facing such an issue all season long, having a small rotation and a large number of games to commit”.
Kostas Tsartsaris stated: “We committed the first step today in a series of games which never ends from the first encounter. We must see how we can improve. We must be even more focused for the next game. We have little time ahead of us. Everything must happen now. Today, from the first up to the very last minute we had a plan in our mind; that is how we neutralized the opponent weapons. It was the most positive aspect of our game. We offensively confined players such as Spanoulis. Olympiacos is a great team, it is European Champion and it will be coming out to OAKA to challenge the best possible outcome; that is exactly why we must stay extremely focused”.
Reject No 200 for the Captain
Dimitris Diamantidis reached yet another distinction in his career. As he would block Vassilis Spanoulis in the first quarter of the encounter, he would mount blocked shot No 200 in his all time HEBA league career. Diamantidis is the first guard ever to reach such a number and also 7th in line on the all time HEBA League list behind Fassoulas 465, Vrankovic 456, Tarlac 256, Berry 231, Tsartsaris 224 and Zhurbenko 208. No other player throughout the entire HEBA League history has at least 400 games, 3,500 points, 450 three pointers, 1,500 rebounds, 1,500 assists, 600 steals and 200 blocked shots.
