The Nan who hit Armani where it hurt and the plan with Hernangometh – Mitoglou

THE Panathinaikos ACTOR She ended her devil’s week perfectly EuroLeaguesince defeated Armani Milano Headquarters (68-76)the second consecutive positive result away from home against OAKA after their win at Monaco’s home stadium.

The “Greens” showed character, won an important victory in the final and are coming back even stronger with a record of 9-7.

The Sportish analyzes the victory of the “Greens” with the help of Hudl Instat.

Armani wanted to turn the match into a mud fight and tagged Sluka all night

Facing a team with two important absences (Mirotic, Law), Panathinaikos AKTOR knew the game was special. Due to Mirotic’s absence, Ettore Messina tends to throw shapes on the floor that tilt depending on the big duo he uses. What does that mean; That one moment he can throw a pattern with Vogtman/Melli (two big guys who shoot from the perimeter, open the field and pass well) on the floor, and the next moment he can throw two centers on the floor that don’t go backwards shoot three meters (Hines, Poithres). He did that against Panathinaikos AKTOR and tried different things.

Ettore Messina wanted to make the game… ugly. To make it a mud fight, to get in touch with the few possessions. He didn’t manage to do this in the first half (hence the 41:41 at the end of the second period). However, over time the game went as desired. Slow down. At the same time, he constantly covered for Kostas Sloukas (9 points and 7 assists, of which Panathinaikos AKTOR 15 points).

According to Hudl Instat, Slukas was used as the primary defender in 19 Armani attacks. That’s a big number. And it gets even bigger when someone knows this: In the 31 minutes and 55 seconds that the National Guard was on the field, Panathinaikos had to defend a total of 63 possessions. Overall, on 19 of those 63 possessions, Ettore Messina marked almost a third of Armani’s attacks (30.1% to be exact) while Sluka was on the ground to tire out the international guard. As a reminder, Slukas scored 20 points on those 19 possessions. This is how he had to defend himself:

This lasting mark tired both Panathinaikos AKTOR and Slukas. Wear and tear was a given. The “Greens” found solutions in defense by sending help and taking the ball out of the hands of the players who marked their leader. At the same time, they were able to freshen him up with long playing time with three guards in the attack and give him the opportunity to make the necessary decisions.

The decisive Lesor, the Hernangomet-Mitoglu formation and Nan, who hit Armani’s blemish

According to Hudl Instat, Armani Milano has two deficiencies in their defensive function this season: they are the fifth-worst in the EuroLeague in points allowed per possession in isolation situations (one-on-one – average 0.98 points passive) and the fifth-worst in In terms of points per possession allowed in pick-and-roll situations when the big one is rolling (1.13 per possession) and the third-worst total points allowed in such situations (6.4 per game). This gave Panathinaikos AKTOR room to find a way through its defense.

Led by Lessor, the “Green” guards beat Armani Milano in pick-and-roll situations and passed to their centers. According to Hudl Instat, the “Clover” scored 11 points (1.22 per possession) on 9 possessions in pick-and-roll situations, with the attempt being made by his big man (8 of which were scored by Lesor). This is the “Cloverleaf’s” third-best performance in the EuroLeague this year (he scored 12 points in the games against Virtus Bologna and Barcelona).

The pick and roll with Lesor (but also the Frenchman’s posts) gave Panathinaikos AKTOR oxygen. The irony, however, is that in the end the “Greens” only solved the mystery of Armani’s defense later the Frenchman’s departure due to injury, which forced Ergin Ataman to end the game with Hernangomet-Mitoglu on top. The reason for this was that the presence of two big guys who could shoot from the perimeter opened up the court and laid the rug for Kendrick Nunn (17 points on 4/9 2-pointers, 2/3 3-pointers Shots and 5 assists, of which Panathinaikos AKTOR received 11 points to take action at the end. Here is his shot chart:

As mentioned, Armani is one of the worst teams in the EuroLeague in one-on-one defense. For his part, Nan is excellent in one-on-one situations, which he demonstrated again, scoring 8 of his 17 points in this situation. Of course, the decisive factor was the three-pointer, with which he ultimately sealed the victory for the “Greens,” who were playing in isolation.

Costa Slukas put the icing on the cake by stamping the final score (68-76) with penetration and finding Armani’s stick open as his tall players had to mark Hernangomet-Mitoglou on the perimeter.

He confirmed his rise

Panathinaikos AKTOR showed character in the second away game in a row. He won another important victory. He has shown that he can win both a game with 90 points (against Monaco) and a game with 75 points (against Armani). That’s the value of having players with personality in the squad who can ultimately provide the solution, like Nunn and Slukas.

The “Greens” confirmed their rise. They seem to be finding an identity now. They know their roles and have found a way to finally integrate Nan into their squad. Most importantly, they give the impression that the best lies ahead.