The Pigeon bwin showed a great reaction and won comfortably with a score of 73-58 Panathinaikostying the Basket League semifinal series at 1-1.
After the match, Vassilis Spanoulis spoke at the press conference and stated that he was very satisfied with the effort of his players, who reacted after a very heavy defeat in the first match.
At the same time, he emphasized that Panathinaikos is a very experienced team, stating that the green players are flopping very smartly trying to take advantage of contact and win fouls.
His statements in detail:
“I believe that today was the proof and the reward of all that we do throughout the year. We proved that we are not where we are by chance. We are among the 2-3 most stable teams in the league. We play with a team that plays in the Euroleague and is a huge team and has a long history. We are now made and I am constantly impressed by the way children take information and turn it into an appearance.
Today we didn’t win 15 points, we won 59 points. Why; Because it is difficult for a big team, not a team like Peristeri, which is now being built, to react from such a big “flap” that we ate. It was our best defensive game. We talked, trained and put on the floor everything we did all year and even better. There were some moments where we should have turned the ball over better, but as a whole we played an amazing game defensively. We are the underdog in the series, we are playing against Panathinaikos, who are favourites, but we will chase the chances that belong to us. Player stats don’t mean anything, for me it’s the team that counts.
We had 6/25 three-pointers even though we’ve been shooting well all year. We had 16 assists and just 10 turnovers, which is important. I don’t like to dwell on personal performances, but what Poulianitis did today with 4 fouls and 7 rebounds and all the guys, like Hamer, who had 2 points, but he played 30 good defenses, like Moraitis and all the guys, that’s where the credits belong. We play with experienced players. We see a lot of flopping from the Panathinaikos players in this series, because they are experienced and they know how to win fouls and they are very smart. We have to manage that and be ready for the next game.
Congratulations to the entire organization. Today is a day of joy, we will be happy and from tomorrow we will think about Tuesday’s game. Congratulations to Panathinaikos for being competitive, what we’re doing is overachieving, but the kids have the will to compete.”
For the key point of the match even if it was the third period: “For me, the key point was what I saw in training. The way we saw the first video after the match and the way all the guys understood that it wasn’t for all the guys, for their effort and sweat, worthy of this team the first match. But it is incredible how a team that was created in the first year reacts. We don’t have more than 2 defeats in a row. I have played 20 years of basketball and it is difficult and it shows character and that is what I want to pass on to the team, to have the character of a winner”.
Source: Sport Fm
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