Argyris Pedoulakis was content about the way Panathinaikos performed against Anadolu Efes, as he stated at the press conference after the game.
"We have already stated that in order to get something out of that positive result in Vitoria we had to win against Anadolu Efes. During the first half we showed the will, but we made some mistakes on how we rotated in our defense. In the second half we improved and this improvement helped us get to the win. Offensively we played as a team as usual. We passed the ball and if we had better percentages in shooting, things would be easier for us. The ratio assist/turnovers was really good and important. Bramos did a great job. He did things that the stats line can't really say, but they were important for us.
I said it yesterday too. In the beginning of the season we were missing important pieces in our puzzle regarding our defense. To have really good offensive players it's something you have to pay dear and the Greek teams in Euroleague cannot do that anymore. We try to fix that. We missed Lasme for a long time, while Ukic still plays with one practice a week. Defense is a chain and when you miss a link, you lose the coherence. Lasme's absence generated frustration in the team. In general lacking some players brought more weight on some others' players' shoulders. We still have some issues we try to cover. We have self awareness and great atmosphere in the team. It's a game by game process. This is our moto. We concern only about the next game. Now our concern is Monday's game, a really special game. It's like an earthquake. You may stand after a 7 richters earthquake, but you may fall after a 4 richters one. In Sports there are victories and defeats. We were forged through difficulties. In this journey there is something positive".
About the passion his players demonstrated tonight, he said: "It's not a secret that this is Panathinaikos. The players now that basketball is a game about possessions. Today since the warm up we weren't focused. We asked from everybody on the bench to help all the rest".
Asked about Nikos Pappas' DNP, Pedoulakis replied: "All players are important. These young players try to make it to the next level. Nick Calathes was out for 1,5 year when he first came here. Nikos got through a difficult situation with his arm. Games will come and he will help us. For example Vlado Jankovic had a certain role today. There is also Charalampopoulos. I have helped many young players through daily work. I worry about this kid, but not only for this one. Nikos acknowledges the differences between Euroleague and the Greek League. I 've seen even in Olympiacos to play after 2-3 years in Euroleague. Time is must. It's not that simple".
Pedoulakis answered a question regarding Diamantidis' improvement as well as Ramel Curry's after Stephane Lasme's return: "It's a two way road. We had problems regarding creativity. We try through 3 minutes periods to get some things on this area from other players, beside Diamantidis. His ability is good for Lasme and Gist. But I must repeat that there is an issue for us in this area. We know it and we work on that every single day".
Vaggelis Angelou (coach, Anadolu Efes) stated: "Panathinaikos got a fair win. They play better for a longer period and they were determined especially in the fourth quarter. Our goal was to find a solution on the defensive rebound. It's a problem the team has since regular season. Offensive rebounds was our Achilles heel since the first quarter. We were punished for that. Losing the defensive rebounds pulled us out of the win race. The positive thing for us is the way we played through the first three quarters. Learning from this game, waiting for Gonlum and Hompson to return we will try to improve through a really difficult schedule".
