Kostas, Dinos and the other Kostas: Fluria Konstantinata

Our ancient ancestors used to say: “To tris eksamarten uk mandros sofou” and the meaning of this proverbial saying fits the case perfectly…

In Lyon, Panathinaikos did not sin like in Belgrade and Istanbul, conceding its first goal in a game that looked like a parliamentary bill… He had to vote on it in an emergency procedure!

Many and varied people have taken care of this process, some obvious and others invisible, apart from the fact that from one point on it became a personal race to see who will win the title of MVP of the game.

If the six-time European champions had left the newly built LDCL Arena with a defeat, he would have done himself a great disservice, tarnished the individual achievements of three of his players and achieved another hara-kiri with all that entails, despite selling beer +16 (25-41), which flew as a banner of their absolute supremacy, the product of the second period…

Kostas, Dinos and the other Kostas

They have finally prevailed, found the springboard for the expected restart after three defeats in a row and are prepared for the rest…

I mean what I wrote earlier about how in the race for candidates and potential MVPs there will be at least three…

Three plus… a half in a Constantine chord!

In one of the most magical performances of his career, Kostas Sloukas managed a double-double with 18 points and 12 assists, grabbed five rebounds, made a steal and, among other things, spectacularly got rid of the… tight corset that he had for most of last year with Monaco and less last year with Panathinaikos Paris Lee had worn.

The double havas of Mitoglou and the fGood luck to Grigonis

• Dinos Mitoglou continued his … boasting and after PAOK he also forced Villerban to suffer the wounds of his own double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds), only this time he did not testify that he had put it badly, as happened on Sunday!
• Marius Grigonis, who is becoming the serial killer of Villeurbanne, was unlucky and it was his job to clean up the laundry: when the hosts tied the score at 69:69, the Morphonian from Kaunas scored three consecutive big shots and the die was cast, so it was Worth it to him – and more than that – the glow that “eaten” as soon as the last horn sounded.
• Kendrick Nunn led the way as an immediate scorer in the first half and Matias Lessor took the lead in the second half, providing the vehicle for Sluka’s creation to the delight of the enthusiastic crowd and the chagrin of his compatriots.

Milwaukee calls Lyon!

This is where the obvious and complete MVPs end and the…half I wrote about before…enters the stage.

So there was and even unexpectedly appeared a Factor-X, which Ergin Ataman (it must be him) ordered from Milwaukee!

I don’t know if Kostas Antetokounmpo stayed up all night last night watching his brother’s orgies, but it is certain that he learned everything and felt that the voice of his (family) conscience commanded him to be worthy of Giannis to look!

Granted, he didn’t score 64 points like the “Greek Freak” and couldn’t, but at least he raised his stature, “flashing” two deafening blocks (in fact, the one against Loverny directly referenced Giannis’ against DeAndre). Ayton in the fourth final of the 2020-21 season) and retired when Lessor was on the bench with four fouls.

How crucial was Antetokounmpo’s contribution to Panathinaikos’ escape from Lyon? So much so that Ataman did not give in to temptation and was not forced to bring back the French centre-back out of the blue.

The figure with the three donkeys!

Incidentally, four minutes before the end of the first half, the Turkish coach presented a – not least – futuristic line-up with the recovering (after seven games absence) Huatso Hernangomet at “3”, Mitoglou at “4” and Lessor at “5”.

This towering five could not leave and proved mortal, as they “eaten” two unstoppable surprises and then Ataman Aron Aron Mitoglou withdrew and deployed Nan to form a trio of guards along with Sluka and Vildosa.

Learn to shoot, boy!

Kostas looked like John to him, they weren’t even brothers!!!

He also looked like a shot-stopper because, in contrast to his defensive agility, he missed five shots that would have been fatal if the easy three-pointer hadn’t worked again!

Dimitris Karydas said this on the TV show and I was bitten because I had just written it in my papers: I don’t know if the great minds meet (sic), they met and even threw a crazy party for the big three. Hints!

The threes and the assists and that Key reflexes

Panathinaikos reached their level (7-7) with 15/34 three-pointers, 23 assists and offensive plurality, but on the other hand they made 14 errors and missed 11 shots (18/29) and these spelling errors must obviously have given them cause for thought and concern be correction.

If the Greens were defeated – as he previously wrote – they would have to smear their faces and bang their heads against the wall of the freshly frozen stadium!

They allowed the hosts to reduce the 16-point deficit and put them in a corner (69-69), but they at least showed key reflexes and shouldered it thanks to the consecutive big throws from Grigonis, Mitoglou and Sluka and the defensive elixir from Antetokounmpo .

They had the chance to “kill” the hosts early on, but they naively managed their strong lead, did not invest in their dominant momentum and allowed Villeurbanne to raise their heads, putting them in a state of pressure and danger.

Shakespeare and the… pigs

“Finally good, everything is good” wrote William Shakespeare, and Ergin Ataman obviously applauds and exaggerates this…

At the end of writing about a long-standing event there is this simplified saying that says: “he collected even when he ate“!

When harvest time comes, these grapes can form the must for Panathinaikos to produce the good wine it has been missing for years!