If no one had watched the game at the Palau Blaugrana, given Barcelona’s recent +8, one would have assumed a battle had taken place. This Panathinaikos rather bothered the Catalans.

The truth is different. At 30, the home team had taken a step, reaching +24 and touching +28 two minutes into the fourth period. The two coaches, knowing that everything was decided, thought about the rest of their main players and threw the next ones in the … yearbook to the floor.

Those at Ataman had an additional incentive to prevent the worst. With a partial score of 25:4, the lead was extended to a decent level, without the impressions of the first quarter of an hour being erased or a defeat being avoided. Most of the protagonists of the derby were still with the SEF.

Mitoglou was successful (just 6p), Lesor was full of aspirations to beat everyone on his own (9p) and Hernangomet was missing, perhaps because he was playing against his brother and in front of his parents, and seemed far from their standards. Grant was left alone, trying to defend, organize and score. He got tired at the end, in what was already his best game in a Panathinaikos jersey.

Sending Klees was already difficult because, in addition to the injured Vildoza, the name of Kostas Sloukas, who suffered from gastroenteritis and remained in Athens, was added to the absentees. Panathinaikos traveled to Barcelona without their best playmakers, although Barca could claim the same as they were forced to play without duo Laprovitola and Joukubaitis.

The catalyst was the Catalans’ superiority in offensive rebounds (13 in total, which earned 22p, including ten in the first half). Combined with the Green defense’s inability to stop the pace of guards such as Satoranski, Brithuela and also Oriol Pauli in his career, the table began to tilt in favor of the home team from the second period onwards.

When Jabari Parker, after his two or three initial missteps, began playing in his own unrivaled NBA style in successive one-on-one periods, the game appeared to be decided by summary proceedings. In the third period, the hosts stepped up their pace even more, forcing Ataman to sit in his chair in frustration.

The fact that he collected the difference from reserves at the end of the game was not a gold medal for him. The Panathinaikos coach is too experienced to be fooled by the end of the game and not focus on how it developed and was decided in favor of the Blaugrana.

The truth is that both Moraitis and Balcherovski tried harder during this period, Ataman noticed them with interest, but he would have liked to see them from the same players when the game was still characterized by competitive interest.

The bell for “names”

As always, the Panathinaikos coach didn’t forget to “throw it” to his players after the game. Especially from those who have the highest demands. “I expected more productivity, especially from a player you all know who he is.” Apparently he was referring to Hernangomet, who went completely unnoticed. He only took two shots (without hitting the target), got two rebounds and that was it.

Panathinaikos has significantly higher demands on the Spanish international, who also receives 2 to 2.5 million euros. The 4.5p and 5p that the meter has written so far can be considered anything but a satisfactory report. The truth is that Huacho started as a three-pointer, which is what Ataman wants so much, but even in his natural position when he came over, he was still just as bad.

“The only way to improve our game is for the players’ individual performances to improve. I hope that we can find a way to achieve this, especially with the… big names who have not lived up to their level so far and what expectations we have of them” added the experienced coach, this time not just referring to Hernangomet. He recently said something similar about Vildosa in front of the television cameras. It is not given to anyone. If you don’t do his job, you’ll just sit on the bench and… listen forever, like what happened to Kyle Guy yesterday.

That is his philosophy, he followed it over the years of his career and achieved great success with Efes. He expects individual improvements from the team’s stars so that the team can also improve. Sometimes the opposite is true (that teamwork also builds the individual), but in Ataman’s eyes such a thing does not exist. The players are obliged to help him…

The arrival of Nan

In this context, Panathinaikos is awaiting the arrival of Kendrick Nan, who was the first new signing after the start of the year. The American NBA player obviously needs some time to get used to it, especially to get to know the facts of European basketball. In addition, he must have quick reflexes so that he does not encounter integration problems, as is usually the case with players coming from the USA.

However, Ataman is not one of the coaches who wants to tame a goalscorer like Nan. If we remember the freedom that Shane Larkin enjoyed in Ephesus, we can imagine the Panathenaic American in a similar role. When he throws the ball into the basket – a task Nan knows very well – he will immediately assert himself.

The difference with Larkin is that although Shane moved to Efes from the Boston Celtics, he had a great season in Baskonia a year earlier (ideal team to create superstars for the EuroLeague), so he also knew the league and its special features. Nan arrives almost unaware of what is to come.

Of course, who said that all of Panathinaikos’ problems were solved because they beat Olympiakos in the SEF? There is still a lot of work that the “green” team has to do, especially in the EuroLeague.

But there are a number of games coming up that can help him. They will face Alba on their trip to Berlin for their second away game in a row. Next up are three games in OAKA, with Zalgiris, Virtus and Valencia, who would make his life easier if they win.