Panathinaikos downed Alba Berlin in Germany and Argyris Pedoulakis spoke of the “musts” which accompany the Greens.
“We are very pleased in the manner we competed through the greatest part of the clash and of course in winning. We had to handle the “must”.Most of the guys have little Euroleague experience. We have three new guys, 2 of which have no idea how the European basketball is played. They experience and improve. Even though we were performing without Schortsanitis for quite some time and we were without Dimitris Diamantidis’ multidimensional activity through the game, all who did compete handled situations appropriately on yet another occasion. It was a win which will help us down the road. We need time in order to train all together. We have trained all together only once and the next day Diamantidis was injured. We miss offenses for no reason. Some guys haven’t learned the plays yet”.
When referring to Panathinaikos’ polyphony in offense and given Maciulis’ exceptional performance he stressed: “It was a game well suited to Jonas this evening, because Alba has short guards, it opts to set traps and this aided him in getting to uncontested shots, which he made. His presence this evening was a heck of assistance for us; above all though the most important element for us is team spirit. Above all is the team, as has always been the case with Panathinaikos. From then on, which player scores the shots is a matter of the opponent team tactics amongst others. There is also yet another element which all must bear in mind: That this team’s jersey is a heavy one to carry and the guys felt the pressure. For example Bramos, during the Greek Cup game versus Panionios hesitated to take shots. We spoke to them, re-enforced him and we are doing much better. And all this, even though we are still lacking creators since Sofo still needs time and we are awaiting Dimitris’return”.
Pedoulakis also made reference to the team’s construction: “We have stated from the very beginning that things will be tough. During the summer, many were under the impression that we were falling apart. Our own guys failed to trust us, either because they were offered more money which was a logical way to go either because certain players did not wish to come to Greece due to austerity measures and rumors about the situation, fearing for the future of their own money. In the past, teams that started out from scratch failed even to qualify to the Top16. Due to the jersey being so very heavy, we aspire to approach matters game by game, so as to avoid forcing extra pressure on the players. Our goal is to qualify through to the next round, knowing that teams that went for a full make over, such as CSKA failed to even reach the Top16. Panathinaikos back in 2002 when it moved to Sporting was left out… It is only natural but we do not want to “choke” the players who have little experience”.
Reference was also made to situations in Greece: “Basketball is out of all this, but it is very tough and competitive. The Greek player has been forged and the Greek element can make it through the rough times”.
Maciulis:“I couldn’t care less about my performance!”
Jonas Maciulis was the great protagonist of the encounter behind his 28 points but also his three… stitches in his jaw, after a blow he received during the clash: “Honestly, I care little about my personal performance but mainly about what my team achieved. We won and that is all that counts. In every game I feel good and have the possibility to shoot I do so. I did it tonight, the shots were valid and we won. But had my teammates not aided me in their own manner I would have never got to such a performance. In the Top16 there is no such thing as an easy game: especially on the road. We are not dreamers, cloud gliders; what we want is to keep serious, steer our attention towards the next game and do our thing. It is too early to speak of destinations”.
Gist: “Ukic and Maciulis exceptional”
James Gist was dynamically present once more, draining a defining three late in fourth quarter: “The game was very strong and we knew it would be tough. We tried to find solutions, were the better opponent on court, but Alba always found the way to come back in the game. Even though we were performing without Diamantidis, we made it. Roko performed an exceptional game; Maciulis played astonishingly and got great range. Sometimes when a player is sidelined others must step up and take responsibilities. Our offense is not one-dimensional. We try to pass the ball to the low-post. The ball gets there for instance to Sofo but when two or three players cover him then it is only natural for the ball to get back to the perimeter for an unguarded shot. Alba at the other end passed the ball correctly got to uncontested shots but we responded on every occasion we lost our leads. Overall it is a very tough group, we have tough games ahead and we must be ready. We have quite some road ahead and it is important that we stay focused on winning”.
