Argyris Pedoulakis spoke of tomorrow’s encounter (March 15, 21.00) versus Alba Berlin in today’s pre-game Press Conference, held at OAKA. The Panathinaikos Head Coach stated: “Alba is a team which has the element of power, going mainly for a contact game. In defense it opts mainly to not allow you to score easy baskets on fast breaks or from offensive boards. In offense, especially when on the road, it aims to set the game and go to 5Vs5 formations. So much against Real Madrid as versus Anadolu Efes it lost the matchups after 35’. We must be contained, break open the game pace. These are important elements for us. We must also appeal to their good spots, one of which is power. It is a game we must win something we have all understood well”.
The Panathinaikos Head Coach also made reference to Sofoklis Schortsanitis and his injury: “As it seems, we are unable to play injury free even in an All Star Game… Sofo is in pain; his is following a personal program of bicycle and running. He will not be ready and if he does compete, he will compete having been specially bandaged… He we will be with us, on the roster, but it is not so easy for him to catch the ball yet”.
When asked about the fact that Alba Berlin will be competing without the stress of the final outcome, Pedoulakis stressed: “This is not a good thing, because when a team unwinds, is under no stress, it shoots easier… It is something we have faced before and we must administer it appropriately”.
Panathinaikos won the game for first round in Berlin and Head Coach was questioned about differences which might exist in comparison to that game, in view of tomorrow’s encounter: “In the first game, Alba was giving a must game. We nailed it especially close to the basket. Even though we did not have our natural leader, Diamantidis, we won. We have learned to live with problems. These last few days we were lacking Skordilis; he joined practice yesterday in order to aid us for 5-6 minutes. In Malaga we also played with two point guards, Vassilis (Xanthopoulos) and Banks trying to help out, though both facing injuries too. And we ended up paying the cost. All the guys helped out as best they could; now we are to face a similar situation but in big men department, since in there is where we are facing issues this time. It is not an easy task at Euroleague level, but we all try our best”.
