The impressive transformation of Panathinaikos AKTOR with Nan

THE emphatic victory of Panathinaikos AKTOR over Monaco (88-63) attested to the tremendous progress his team continues to make Ergin Ataman. The “greens” are now fourth with 13-8 even setting a bow for home field advantage in the playoffs.

The milestone in the season for the “clover” seems to have been the acquisition of Kendrick Nunn, as from the moment he joined the team, it took off. It is typical that in the first six matches of the Euroleague, Panathinaikos AKTOR had a 2-4 record and was in tenth place having a better record than only Milan, Alba and Villerban, but from the debut of the American ex-NBAer onwards, in the game against Alba in Berlin, he has 11 wins and 4 losses.

Yes, the three of those four losses came on the… threadfrom Partizan (92-87), Efes (71-68) and Baskonia (75-73), in games that could well have been won by Ergin Ataman’s team, while the fourth defeat was against the unstoppable Real, who have losing all but two games in 21 matches.

But even more impressive is the launch of Panathinaikos AKTOR in numbers since Nan donned the green. According to the advanced stats of 3StepsBasketprior to his acquisition, Panathinaikos AKTOR had the 15th best offense in the Euroleague with 107.5 points per 100 possessions and the seventh best defense with a passive 111.1 points per 100 possessions, with the his net rating to be at -3.6 points, just 13th in the competition.

From the time Nan joined the team, Panathinaikos AKTOR has the fifth best attack with 117.4 points per 100 possessions, but also the second best defense with a passive 109.1 points per 100 possessions having sprung to +8.2 in net rating, which is the second best in the Euroleague.

Overall, in 21 (for some teams 20) games, Panathinaikos AKTOR has the 11th offense with 114.5 points per 100 possessions, but the third best defense with a passive 109.7 points per 100 possessions, behind only Real (104) and Valencia (107.9).