Panathinaikos Head Coach, Argyris Pedoulakis spoke of certain calls during the encounter which played a role in forming the final outcome:
“It was a very tough game, great emphasis was steered towards defense, it was full of tactics, with many schemes from both teams. We managed to pace a team such as Barcelona, team that has an exceptional rhythm in its game and for the greatest part of the encounter. We believe that in crucial moments the criteria were not equivalent. We will watch the video to be fair, but we believe they were not. Nodal moment for us was Lasme being fouled out with a pair of personal offensive ones called on a screen, a player who has found great rhythm with Diamantidis, but also Tsartsaris’ third consecutive foul. We believe also that in this last plays a foul not awarded was committed on Gist. It was a tough game, we measured up to Barcelona. Many may have though that because Panathinaikos is being reconstructed it wouldn’t stand a chance but it is not so. We could have been the winners too for once in a game that goes into overtime. We will meet again on Thursday”.
When asked about Barcelona’s shots, he stressed: “We did not allow Barcelona’s good shooters to easy shots. Some uncontested shots were executed by players who are not so good, but perform other things on court, something we risked. The thing was for Barcelona not to establish a pace, because when it does it is magnificent. Your opponent’s very identity is also an issue. We play strong in defense and it is one of the reasons Barcelona shot poorly today. For example Jasikevicius injured us in first half with his pick n roll plays but in the second part we found a solution, sending Gist on him… It will be a different game on Thursday. Barcelona has more depth; we basically are starting out this year. It will be a whole different ball game. We will spot our mistakes, see what we can do and it will be a different game”.
Concerning Sofoklis Schortsanitis, player on whom he was questioned, the Panathinaikos Head Coach answered: “First he committed fouls, second in frontcourt he was very good, but Barcelona appeal to him in pick n rolls in defense. Especially with Saras who appealed to this very spot. So, we wanted to use a different layout in order to stay alive in the game provided from defense in order to get a chance to challenge its outcome”.
