Panathinaikos – Maccabi: Sluka’s Castle, Brown’s Creation and the Unsung Hero

THE Panathinaikos failed against Maccabi, I know the 81:86 overtime defeat for his 4th matchday EuroLeague. The “Greens” made a great counterattack, they came back from -15, but in the end they retreated.

The Sportish analyzes the defeat of Panathinaikos with the help of Hudl InStat.

Maccabi stopped Sluka’s run on the pick and roll

Maccabi started with a clear idea: they had no intention of letting Kostas Slouka find a rhythm. Oded Katas wanted to take the ball out of the national player’s hands and played very aggressively in the pick and roll. Her first goal was to send him to his right hand, but even that wasn’t enough for her. Even then she threw it up powerfully and wanted to knock the ball out of his hands. Here is an example:

Slukas plays pick and roll with Tamir Blatt sending him right and Rivero going high.

Slukas drives to the basket with three players around him and another (Colson) on the stick. Slukas passes to Grigonis.

Maccabi took Sluka out of the role. According to Hudl Instat, Slukas took just two shots in the pick-and-roll situation (which is his primary mode of attack) and scored just one point (after a foul shot). The international was forced to play well without the ball and score attempts that way, finishing the game with 9 points on 2/11 shots. This is how he got his attacks:

Slukas remained in a creative role. He read the Maccabi defense correctly and distributed 6 assists, which earned the “Greens” 18 points. But he never found a rhythm.

The ray of light from Vildosa, Costas Antetokounmpo and the landing of the Argentines

In a difficult evening for Panathinaikos, it was Luka Vildosa (15 points, 4 assists) who scored the most shots from the perimeter. The Argentine guard was dangerous off the dribble and it was he who unlocked the Maccabi defense in the pick and roll in the fourth period, taking advantage of the fact that the Israelis played him flat and gave him space.

Vildosa was able to do damage in the pick and roll on consecutive offenses, either scoring off a dribble or passing to the big man rolling to the basket and connecting well with Costa Antetokounmpo, leading to partnerships. Here is Vildoza’s shot chart:

Circle the successful shots and mark the missed shots with a cross

Vildosa was the one who ensured the ups and downs of the game with his spontaneity. When a match becomes a rodeo, with lots of runs and attacks in an unbalanced defense or that gives him space, he is one of the best in Europe. However, when the pace of a game drops, the Argentine faces problems. This also explains why he committed 4 of his 5 errors in the fourth period and overtime.

Brown was responsible for 51% of Maccabi’s points

Maccabi finished the game with 5 players in double figures. Bonzie Colson had 21 points. John Di Bartolomeo 15 points (5/7 3-pointers). Lorenzo Brown with 12 points (on only 4/13 shooting) and 12 assists was the one who determined the balance.

The naturalized Guardian bore the brunt of execution and creation in the absence of Wade Baldwin. However, he was the one who set the pace with his creation from the start, with Maccabi scoring 29 points from his own assists.

In total, Brown was responsible for 44 of Maccabi’s 86 points in the game! And his coexistence with another good creator – Tamir Blatt, who had 12 points and 4 assists – freed him in the end.

Cleveland was the unsung hero of the game

Antonius Cleveland finished the game against Panathinaikos with 7 points on 3/4 2-point shooting, 1/2 shooting, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal in 15 minutes and 16 seconds of play. Nevertheless, he was the unsung hero of Maccabi’s victory and played a key role in extra time.

Cleveland is an all-round guard-forward with a height of 1.96 meters and an arm span of 2.11 meters. In this Maccabi he has to win his role through his defense and the so-called hustle games, i.e. the phases in which a ball is fought for – or he does enforceable. And that’s exactly what he did in extra time, starting with the jumbo ball in the five extra minutes when he grabbed the ball on the side defended by Panathinaikos and scored.

Cleveland made two defenses in the post (against Mitoglou and Lessor), while again acting as a helper in a post up from Grant and thwarting the “green” attack, while – as icing on the cake – he also managed the steal in the final and shaped the final result. During the time he spent on the pitch, he was one of those who took over for Sluka’s coverage.

According to Hudl Instat, Maccabi had a defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) of just 65.79 points while Cleveland was on the floor. Of the remaining 8 players on the team who played more than 10 minutes, Josh Niebo was next at 78.95 points per possession!

To make this number even more understandable, it is enough for the world to know the following: with Cleveland on the court, Panathinaikos scored only 25 points in 40 possessions, had 6/18 shots, 6 errors (he also made 15 shots). ). If you’re looking for an unsung hero, the title clearly goes to Cleveland.

A terrible defeat

You can’t characterize this result for Panathinaikos as anything other than a terrible defeat. The “Greens” made a great counterattack, almost won a game in which Slukas offered little and Hernangometh offered nothing, got things from Mitoglou (which completely changed the team’s image) and saw Vildosa rise. But at the box office it is currently 1-3 with two home defeats.

The “Greens” know that they have to change a lot. They need to find a way to release Sluka, get Hernangomet more involved and find a more consistent rotation after using 31 different fives against Maccabi. And it’s good that this happens soon, before another path in the EuroLeague is lost.