A big rise begins for Panathinaikos

Olympiakos has quenched his thirst for a title with his all-out return in the final leg of the finals, celebrating the cup and Panathinaikos need to find a way to lift their heads while keeping their eyes on the fight for the championship finals in the long run. It won’t be easy, the year is big, there are 11 Euroleague games in which the “Greens” have raised a white flag for a long time. And in the end, losing that title could prove heavier on the shoulders of the special PAO team, which isn’t made of…steel anyway.

Proof of his fourth-quarter meltdown as Olympiacos changed gears. While Wookup and McKissick mustered plenty of energy in the critical period, Panathinaikos, who showed he could control the game despite the ‘Red-Whites’ improvement, melted like butter. This isn’t the first time he’s had it this year. Dead zones are a constant phenomenon, he has paid dearly for them and may well pay for them in the future.

Watch out for differences. By the 30th, Panathinaikos had managed – thanks to his eruption at the end of the second period – to refute all predictions about Olympiakos’ superiority and the balance in the two parts of the field (not as good as in the first part) as Olympiakos essentially forbidden to attack close to the basket) even had a lead of 13 points.

Yes, the ‘Red-Whites’ seemed to have found solutions to exploit their greats (first Fal, then Martin), but PAO found solutions with patience and good ball circulation. Finishing the third ten minutes with a difference of +9, the “Greens” had 16/23d, 8/23tr, 19 rebounds, 14 assists and only 4 errors (none in the third period).

If you look at the final statistics sheet, it becomes clear that everything went wrong for the “Greens” in the last ten minutes. The tank dried up and while Olympiakos jumped closer, Panathinaikos was worried, afraid, failed.

In the fourth third he scored only 6 points, also from free throws. Overall, Priftis players had 0/7 two points, 0/8 three points, and 6/6 shots. They made as many mistakes as they had throughout the game, the ball stopped circling (just one assist) and they fell awkwardly, in a final that seemed to be in their hands as it unfolded.

Dependence on Nedovic

Of course, Panathinaikos seems to be completely dependent on Nemanja Nedovic’s score. As long as the Serb had a connection to the basket and put down big shots like those in front of Vezenkov, Fal and Papanikolaou, PAO controlled the game. When Nedovic started to get tired, but Wokap couldn’t catch his breath either, the “Greens” suddenly had a problem.

From the 4/9 threes of the first part, “Nendo” broke the baskets with 0/6 in the second part and again tried crazy shots with a big curve, but this time without finding the target. And if in the third third the “Greens” found goals from Okaro White and Macon with their good circulation, in the fourth period the mind was blurred, the basket was reduced and all shots ended in the same way. Iron and mostly a rebound from Olympiakos.

Suddenly Panathinaikos started showing us all his weaknesses.

• Stefan Jovic, heavy, cannot follow such rhythms without energy, is aimless in attack and vulnerable in defense. It is logical. The Serb wasn’t on the field for a year, it’s not easy for him to find pressure and rhythm through long-term games. His fall will require patience as Panathinaikos can benefit from his presence in the long run.
• Macon had a chance to move forward. But he also lost in hasty decisions, he was misplaced, he stumbled into the opposing defense several times and in the end stuck to what he had offered in the first 30 minutes.
• Neither Evans nor White made a difference, Priftis turned to see if he had any solutions and saw that Hugaz still didn’t give him time to join in, Manjuka’s raw face and the center of limited missions, Kavvada. In the absence of Papapetros, Panathinaikos was essentially down to seven players considering Bohoridis played a little early, was penalized with three fouls and never returned.

Papagiannis is better

Comparatively the best of all from Panathinaikos was George Papagiannis. In the first half he dominated the racquet, after Olympiakos got into the racquet a bit, Fal saw him as his shadow at least three times and seemed to have things completely under control. His third foul put him on the bench and when he came back he did everything he could to avoid the worst. He collected rebounds, gave passes, only he … did not take the ball.

The player, who didn’t miss a shot for PAO (5/5, two points), didn’t get a single assist in the last third. He could have used more, but his team’s peripherals had suffered a general execution and creation blackout.

Olympiacos are a better team than Panathinaikos anyway. From the moment the “Greens” started retreating without finding a solution, it was only a matter of time before the Reds went forward. The difference in quality can be seen in a single fact that essentially decided the outcome of the final.

To change the course of the game and win it, Bartzokas sacrificed Sloukas’ participation in the last third. Theoretically the most experienced and best player. Could Pritis do something similar? So “park” Nedovic on the bench and let the others win?

He wants courage

The trophy was a big goal for Panathinaikos, who lost. It would make the continuation enormously easier, it would even forgive heavy defeats in the Euroleague with opponents who will burn for the victories. He might sweep all of Panathinaikos’ problems under the rug as a title win over the theoretically superior Olympiakos would put everything aside.

Now there’s a climb ahead of him, he needs to find motivation to finish the Euroleague with dignity and go into the league playoffs where the question will be much more agonizing because to clinch the title he needs to win the Olympics three times.

PS: The awards ceremony scenes with the players of Panathinaikos and Olympiakos congratulating each other were the best that could be expected in another Final Four, with smiles, with fans of all teams and once when we finally didn’t… the foreigners envied.