Argyris Pedoulakis commented on Lokomotiv Kuban's win as fair, in the press conference after the game in Heraklio.
"We had a bad game. We were a gear down comparing to our opponents. We were nervous in offense and it was obvious. Carry was out and he wasn't able to help us. We went small and that helped to find our rhythm in the second half. At the end we fought for the win, but we didn't make it. Lokomotiv Kuban got a fair win. Maybe they were lucky down the line, but nevertheless it was a fair win. The truth is that we were nervous. We have back to back trips and many games in a short period. We tried to reverse the situation, but we missed a lot of shots and important rebounds. I could say that we run out of gas and we tried to get the win by playing with our heart. We would like to thank the fans here in Crete. We wanted to see them leaving the gym happy, but unfortunately we didn't achieve that goal".
When asked about the unsportsmanlike foul Stephane Lasme made, Pedoulakis replied: "We have to see the game as a team and not to focus on one person. We pulled Stephane out of the game at that point in order for him to calm down. We must not focus though on one player. We haven't found our rhythm yet, and that's the truth. Through the games and the practices we are going to try to improve. At the same time the players are tired. We continue... We are Panathinaikos and we have to learn through all these situations and to improve. We have a lot of important games ahead of us".
Pashutin: A great win
Evgeny Pashutin (Lokomotiv Kuban, coach): "I was expecting a tough game against such a great team. We played hard in defense. We didn't allow the players of Panathinaikos to cooperate, cutting all passes to the big guys. We tried to play good defense on Diamantidis. Offensively we controlled the game. We remained calm and we got a great win given the fact that this is our first year in Euroleague. We continue. We are in a very tough group, facing teams with great history. Red Star and Lietuvos Rytas play in great atmosphere. We have to continue like this and to be focused in all our games".
Answering a question about Diamantidis' three point shot, Pashutin note: "We have asked our players to go for the foul, but not immediately. We didn't rotate well and we saw Diamantidis making that shot".
Finally, regarding the fact that the game wasn't played in OAKA but in Crete he claimed that "it's difficult to beat Panathinaikos in any place, especially when the fans of the team are present, as they were today".
Krunoslav Simon (Lokomotiv Kuban, Player): "It was a great game. In the first half we played well especially in defense. We didn't let our opponents to make a lot of shots. It's a really important game for us. When a game goes to the last shot, you don't really have to do a lot. Just to shoot the ball. Sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn't. I was just lucky".
