Argyris Pedoulakis congratulated Diamantidis and Tsartsaris on their respective records, while he also answered questions regarding Banks and Kapono.
“As we stated yesterday, there is no such things as a relaxed Euroleague game. Proofof this statement was today’s encounter. Mind and body relaxed and we allowed Olimpija to perform a feisty comeback in the game. We had good moments but also moments in which we were not so good. We tried to play behind team spirit and it is obvious from our 20 assists in the game. Notwithstanding the final quarter, we had managed to keep turnovers to a minimum, an area in which we are still suffering competitively. We managed to cover our issue regarding how to guard Baynes in the paint but certain mistakes especially in secondary fast breaks put Olimpija back in the game. I would like to congratulate Diamantidis and Tsartsaris for their personal records set this evening. They both truly deserve congratulations.
When asked about Marcus Banks, who performed a positive game, he stressed: “He is a point guard with a personality. He is not yet ready in a physical conditioning sense. He does not know how the game in Europe is played exactly and it is only natural. He needs games in order to comprehend how you play with the time, with the score. Regular season in Europe is not the same as what it is in the NBA. There is no “we are off to the next game” here. But all this is only natural. He helped the entire team today, so much in execution as in creation. I believe that in a short period of time he will experience fatigue which although expected will have an impact on his performance”.
About if the Panathinaikos players will play more freely now that no pressure exists, Pedoulakis responded: “It is only natural but pressure is not necessarily a bad thing. Pressure forges you and when you are on a team such as Panathinaikos you must learn how to manipulate it. Pressure is not a bad thing. Certainly some guys started out numb but now they have greater self confidence, personality, choices like Mike Bramos who has improved immensely in this very area. But he is not the only one”.
When asked about Jason Kapono and the probability of his arrival, he stated: “I would like to talk about the guys who played today. The day is dedicated to them. We are in a very tough group and essentially since the last game day the team nailed its first goal which was qualification to the Top16. It is something important for the club but also for Greek basketball. These guys accomplished it and now they have 14 tough games ahead of them. They will not even stop for Christmas, there will be no recess; exhaustion will exist so much physical as mental. Some of these guys know it but others have still to find it out. So I would like to speak of them, out of respect towards them, stay focused on the guys who played”.
Saso Filipovski, head coach of Union Olimpija, stated after the clash: “Congratulations to Panathinaikos for its victory. We started out poorly but returned in the game during the second quarter. Maybe we respected Panathinaikos too much from the very first minute and failed to start out as aggressively as I wanted. At the beginning of the second half Panathinaikos investing in good three point range, gained a 10 point spread and it was hard to come back from such a trail. When the gap was closed down to 5 points, we missed two unguarded triples, were unable to score but gave it our very best and lost to the better and stronger team. Congratulations to Panathinaikos for prevailing”.
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