Panathinaikos is in Málaga for the first game of the Euroleague regular season second round. The team arrived in Spain via Rome to face Unicaja Málaga on Thursday (24/11, 9:45 p.m., ERT), with Kostas Tsartsaris and Stratos Perperoglou being on the absentee list.
Past history and the first round game tips the scale on the side of the “clover”, as they are at 11-4 on the victories – defeats score, having also won the first game between them in the current season by 98-77. Panathinaikos counts with five consecutive victories over Unicaja Málaga. The last time the Spaniards had won was on January 17, 2007 and the only player still with the team since then is Berni Rodríguez.
For two of Panathinaikos’ players, the game against Unicaja Málaga brings back memories, Dimitris Diamantidis being one of them and Mike Batiste the other.
Panathinaikos’ captain made his debut in Euroleague wearing the green jersey playing against the Spanish team. It was on November 3, 2004. The “Greens” grabbed the away victory (75-83) and in 29’15’’ play-time he marked 5 points (0/3 2pts, ½ 3pts, 2/4 free throws), 6 rebounds (5-1), 1 assist, 4 steals, 1 block. That was just the beginning… To this day he counts with 151 games, 1410 points, 570 assists, 286 steals and 82 blocks in Euroleague, and is considered to be (and actually is) one of the top players in the history of the competition.
Batiste has played his best overall game against Unicaja Málaga, but in a home game. He reached 35 in the ranking system, with 22 points (9/10 2pts.) and 9 (5-4) rebounds in the 29 minutes he played in that game. Panathinaikos had won by 103-95 in overtime. Let it be added at this point that Batiste needs just 6 more successful two-pointers to reach 800 in his Euroleague career. Only two players have exceeded that number: Nikola Vujcic (850) and Luis Scola (814).
Past history
Panathinaikos – Unicaja Málaga (Spain) 11-4
2011-12 Euroleague 98-77
2010-11 Euroleague 82-56 77-61*
2008-09 Euroleague 81-69* 103-95
2006-07 Euroleague 87-72 61-67*
2005-06 Euroleague 79-82* 93-95
2004-05 Euroleague 83-75* 88-69
2003-04 Euroleague 91-67 78-83*
2002-03 Euroleague 77-65 75-69*
What happened in the first game
Panathinaikos – Unicaja Málaga 98-77
Referees: Ziemblicki (Poland), Vyklicky (The Czech Republic), Vojinovic (Montenegro)
By quarter: 25-16, 52-49, 77-61, 98-77
Panathinaikos (Obradovic): Maric 10, Batiste (5 rebounds), Logan 4, Sato 16 (6 rebounds), Tsartsaris, Diamantidis 17 (7 assists, 3 steals), Vougioukas 3, Calathes Ν. 12, Kyritsis, Smith 13, Kaimakoglou 13, Jasikevicius 10
Unicaja Málaga (Mateo): Rodríguez 5, Rowland 10, Valters 13, Peric 13, Darden 7, Garbajosa 7, Freeland 5, Zoric 4, Sinanovic 11, Blanco 2
PHOTOS
