The good defensive operation of the team was the key for the win in today's game against Red Star, according to the coach of Panathinaikos, Argyris Pedoulakis.
"It was a stressful game, since the winner would get the ticket for Top16. We had to deal with different problems throughout the game. We manager to get the win through our defense. We had energy, will, but not a clear mind. We tried to keep our guards "fresh" for the last minutes of the game. Unfortunately, we had yet another injury. Jonas Maciulis status will be evaluated tomorrow by the doctors".
Concerning the key to the victory, Pedoulakis noted: "Our defense kept us alive when the game was turning bad for us. At the end Gist and Bramos leveled up their performance and helped us to get the win".
When asked about the way he is planning to face the injury problems, Pedoulakis answered: "Our biggest problem is the guards. Jonas is really important for us. If it's a rupture we will have a problem. We have just a few healthy players and that makes everybody nervous. We have to find a solution until Nikos is back, at least for Euroleague games".
Radonjc: "Panathinaikos took advantage of our mistakes"
Dejan Radonjc, coach of Red Star, stated: "Congratulations to Panathinaikos for the win. They have the quality and the experience for games like this one. Everybody expected that Panathinaikos will be at the Top16. We traveled to Athens with the will to surprise them. We played very well in defense for 40 minutes. We fought till the end, despite the fact that we had a lot of turnovers. We had 20 turnovers in offense and they cost us. We could be luckier if we made the right choices down the stretch. Panathinaikos with its quality and experience took advantage of our mistakes. We had yet another good game in Euroleague. Even though we have no hopes to advance to the next phase, we have to give our best till the end".
Ivan Radenovic stated: "First of all I want to congratulate Panathinaikos for its win. Our team played well for 38 minutes, but in the end Panathinaikos proved that it's an experienced team. We have to learn from this game, on how we have to end the games. Our decisions in the end prevented us from claiming the victory".
