The embarrassment of Panathinaikos’ failure

Panathinaikos OPAP’s second (home) goal was lost at “Dyo Aorakia” in the afternoon of Sunday, February 20th. The Greek Cup ended up in the hands of Olympiacos after 11 years, and the Greens left Crete feeling they had lost a title they had held tightly for three seasons. The way the game ended (see 0/15 shots in a kid) shows the problem of quantity for Dimitris Priftis’ team.

Where was the final judged? In the extra selection from the bench, Olympiacos found OPAP, in contrast to Panathinaikos, who were caught in the rotation of seven and a half players.

Dependency has two sides

The shamrock entered the race with a readiness (intellectual and competitive) rare for this year’s dates that quickly bore fruit. And that not only has to do with the fact that Nemanja Nedovic found an offensive rhythm very quickly, but also with the overall performance of the greens in the back area of ​​the parquet.

What has to do with the first piece (see Nemanja Nedovic), however, was captured most ingeniously in “Dyo Aorakia”, that addiction has two sides. The one that undresses you when she’s fine and the one that crushes you when she’s not working properly.

The numbers make it clear what that means: The 31-year-old guard had 19 points in the first half with 5/11 shots and 5/5 shots, after the break he couldn’t find a goal in any of the ten attempts he made as a child (0/ 3 two points, 0/7 three points) and scored exclusively from the line of fire (4/4).

And that was a problem, especially in the last period when Olympiacos’ counterattack developed. After all, he was no stranger to the image of everyone looking for him hoping he’d make one big shot or two to change the course of the final.

But these never came, with the result that everyone saw the basket smaller than it really was and were overcome with shame as they watched job after job fail.

He didn’t have the additional solutions

Aside from that, Panathinaikos paid OPAP for not having the +2 solutions off the bench that made the difference for Olympiakos. Both coaches basically went with eight players in the final. However, Giorgos Bartzokas got in the final stretch from Thomas Wokap and Sakil McKissick, which Dimitris Priftis did not find with his own players (see Jeremy Evans, Stefan Jovic).

The bench made the difference where it was needed, largely because the energy from the two red and white peripherals disrupted the flow of the game. Olympiacos invested in a tough defense, which filled him with confidence at a time when Panathinaikos OPAP’s fatigue was turning into a slow offensive rhythm and decisions that yielded no significant gain, with shots becoming the norm on defense and ending – fatally – in the iron.

The big picture doesn’t change

In the evening’s final, his grievances about refereeing, as uttered from official lips, will be judged by the authorities. Essentially, the Greek Cup loss hurts the organization of Panathinaikos OPAP as they lost a goal of the season. At the same time, however, it remains clear that the big picture will not change for the clover leaf with either a +1 or a -1 title in 2021/22.

Quite simply because every day he will struggle with the problems and the objective difficulties that exist to be decent in all areas, but also the hope that all this is no longer the rule of his daily life …