Panathinaikos edged Kavala 95-73 in a game hosted today at the OAKA arena.
Panathinaikos did its thing on the court from minute one. It established an advantage from the very first minutes picking up the pace in offense, while at the other end, in defense it did not allow Kavala to get to the basket easily. The Greens kept up at the same pace for second quarter also, upping the ante to a 27 point edge (38-11, 15’10’’), half time featuring the score board reading 47-25.
Kavala tried to react during third quarter, cut down its deficit to 9 points (62-53, 28’) exploited a relaxation from the Panathinaikos camp, but also certain turnovers the Greens committed. The clover reacted in fourth quarter, presented itself better in defense resulting being the distance amongst opponents to expand once more, only to reach 22 points (84-62 at 35’50’’, 91-69 at 38’40’’), only for curtains to fall in the eve, final score 95-73.
Referees: Georgiadis, Kaldiris, Pagonis
Quarters: 22-6, 47-25, 69-53, 95-73
Panathinaikos (Pedoulakis): Bramos 9, Maciulis 14, Ukic 17, Lasme 10, Tsartsaris 2, Diamantidis 3, Gist 20, Banks 11, Xanthopoulos 2, Giannopoulos 6, Skordilis 1
Kavala (Alexandris): Pievalitsa, Arapis, Arbet 8, Kalabakas 5, Manolopoulos 7, Stilianou 4, Demertzis 11, Velissariou 2, Mitrovic 8, Krstevski 8, Coleman 20
Pedoulakis: “The brain relaxed…”
Panathinaikos had an easy afternoon versus Kavala and the team coach, Argyris Pedoulakis, was a man of few words in his statements: “For us it was tough to be able to keep the guys concentrated, we set goals which little had to do with Kavala. We worked on parts of our tactics, tried to share out the time to all the guys, to run… As time went by our brain relaxed, especially in backcourt, something which is natural. It is impossible to come to conclusions… We thank Vangelis Alexandris for his kind words and I hope Kavala will be able to return to the A1 league”.
The Kavala coach, Vangelis Alexandris stressed: “I would like to wish hard work above all and a significant improvement in our line of business, the area of basketball which we are worthy of, because as you see, although we have been mistreated for many years, praise to personal efforts from behalf of the presidents of the big clubs, such as Olympiacos and Panathinaikos, basketball still exists. Because from that point forward I know what goes on in Aris and PAOK that also have a dynamic and can lift the championship to a higher level. Large amounts are owed in debt. The area also has other people who try, such as the guys in Panionios, Ikaros, Rethymno. And our president, Mr. Papakonstantinou, it was a Godsend that he came to Kavala, that he aided the team in an area where basketball was not present and now is in bloom. The results have not yet come up, but there is a spark for basketball and these guys who are involved now will step up in the future and the team will have indigenous players to lead the sport even higher”.
About the game there is not much to say. In the second half we performed better and you know all who know me that there is no way for me to give up the battle even if the dynamic amongst the two team is huge and even though we are coming from an 8 hour trip because HEBA informed as late and we were unable to book tickets. Even if I was absent from an event I wanted to attend, Nikos Gallis’, because I had to be here. For three quarters we were competitive and Panathinaikos viewed the game as preparation. It did not chase the score, it gave out time to many guys and this aided us in being competitive. There is a game left, we will try to win and see after what we will plan for the next season.
I had stated that the Greek coaches, if given a chance, and by this I mean a team with the correct conditions to achieve things. And we saw it this season. Giorgos (Bartzokas) took the team to the Final Four and Argyris almost made it there, but had a tougher voyage to commit and because he built a team from scratch, one which has already won the Greek Cup. He has one of my beloved guys next to him, Sotiris Manolopoulos, and I can’t not be with them and watch their stride”.
Gaios Skordilis stated: “It was the first game after Easter; we wanted to try certain things out which will come in handy down the road. In the first half we did what coach requested but were unable to do so at the beginning of the second half when Kavala gained on us. We have two more games on the road to end the regular season in order to prepare for the playoffs. We aspire to achieve the goals the team has set and do the best possible towards it”.
Dimitris Kalabakas stated: “Congratulations to Panathinaikos for the win. From the beginning it managed to get game. We failed to start off well in the first quarter, missed uncontested shots and Panathinaikos managed to break away and we chased it through the entire game. We gained on it to 9 points a distance but certain turnovers left us trailing in the score. The goal from now on is to close the season as dignified as possible for the people of the team, the fans and ourselves”.
Curry signed
Ramel Curry is a Panathinaikos player officially, since he signed his contract today with the Greens”.
Schortsanitis’ presence
Sofoklis Schortsanitis, who was experiencing pain in his lower back during the last few days, stated present on the initial line up and in warm up, but it was preferred he not compete.
