Panathinaikos departed this morning heading to Cyprus. There where as the home team it will be hosting Laboral Kutxa at the “Tassos Papadopoulos-Eleftheria” indoor arena on Friday (October 25, 21.30) in Euroleague game 2.
Argyris Pedoulakis made reference to the Greens presence in Cyprus: “The team heads out to Cyprus, a great part of the Greek nation. It was a decision made, after the team having been awarded a sanction. I believe it was for the best, since the fans will get to be by our side again and the court will max out. There are also many Panathinaikos fans out there and they will come along to support us. We are facing a team which likes to run; is like almost all other Spanish teams. What we aspire is to improve both on team as on a personal level. These few days we finally got to train all together three times, we are incorporating Ukic gradually into the pace and apart from the win which is important we want all our players to reach the aspired level”.
When asked about if Laboral Kutxa seems to have an issue in backcourt, judging also from its recent result (defeat to Real Madrid 105-72), the Panathinaikos Head Coach answered: “It has an issue when it comes to team defense, but this is granted for many teams at the beginning of the season. As the time goes by all the teams will begin to change and improve in this department”.
Pedoulakis was questioned about how much the consecutive travelling in combination with consecutive games has an effect on the team: “It is tough, there is exhaustion, but it is something we have to administer. As also we must administer the fact that we have guys trailing as far as physical conditioning due to injuries. It is as if we have two teams to administer in this department. We must administer the situation however also even during the game in order to help them. There are players that are our first string guys, such as Ukic and Lasme”.
Jonas Maciulis from his point of view focused on the great importance of a victory versus Laboral Kutxa: “It would be really significant for us to get our first positive Euroleague result, after a defeat in the competition plus another one for the Greek League. We want to experience the taste of victory in our second European game this season. We have something to prove, our presence. Constant travelling is not the best thing when it comes to exhaustion but on the other hand we will be having fans by our side, the court as far as we know is going to be packed, so this is always a good thing. We are facing a good team, one which plays by the… Spanish school. It runs, it tries to use the fast lane and moreover it has a landmark in its paint, Tibor Pleiss, who essentially is one of Laboral Kutxa’s main weapons. Are we the better team? That is something answered always and only our on the court”.
