Tomic: “It is not that difficult for Panathinaikos to beat Maccabi in Belgrade”

For the couples of the two Greek teams in the playoffs Euroleague spoke o Milan Tomichosted on EOK Web Radio.

The veteran guard and current assistant coach at Armani Milano spoke about his loss Panathinaikou AKTOR from Maccabiexpressing his opinion that it is not so difficult for the “greens” to reverse the situation against them.

At the same time, he commented on his couple Olympiakou with the Barcelonawhile referred to Pigeon bwinwhich made it all the way to the Final Four of the BCL.

What he said in detail:

Regarding yesterday’s (23/04) defeat of Panathinaikos by Maccabi Tel Aviv: “We all expected Panathinaikos to win, but in the end they lost. This means nothing for Panathinaikos, because they have the 2nd game they can win and then they will have to win one away from home. This is not so difficult, because Maccabi plays in Belgrade and without such a strong base.”

On how much the absence of Papanikolaou can affect Olympiakos in the scoring of Kalinic-Parker: “Barcelona is not just Kalinic and Parker. Kalinic has the ability as a “3” to go to the low-post, but they don’t stick as much in this game. In this part, there will be no problem for Olympiakos due to the scrimmages. The very important piece, for me, is Veseli, who plays a game that might not suit Olympiakos, with the mid-range shot. He has improved immensely in this area compared to when he was at Fenerbahce. He is having an incredible year and is very effective at it. Like Laprovitola who plays pick-and-roll. The combination of these two players who play great together, needs a little more emphasis on dealing with it. Olympiacos must cut their pace, not let Barcelona run and score easy baskets.”

For bwin Pigeon’s qualification to the BCL Final-4: “It is a great success for Vassilis Spanoulis and for Peristeri and for Greece. It is very important. I hope they play well and reach as high as they can.”

For the Monaco-Fenerbahce pair: “As an image of Fener, everyone thinks that they are more of a team, that they play harder in defense, that they are more organized in attack, that they have everything to beat Monaco. In my opinion, Monaco has an advantage. Don’t be fooled by the image of Monaco in the last month they are not playing well. I think they have very good players and players with character, where when it comes time for the games they will react, they will give everything. They have the ability to win the series. For me, Monaco has a small advantage.”

For Armani not being able to enter the play-ins: “Certainly the goal was to enter the play-offs. We had too many injuries, every week it was 2 players off and not from the substitutes. We tried in the end to get into the play-ins, but some games we lost, like in Villeurbanne, cost us and we didn’t make it. We were upset, but that’s basketball and life. We have to move on, because we have another goal in front of us, the conquest of the Italian championship”.

Because today is the anniversary of the 1st European Olympiacos in 1997: “They are very nice memories and this is not forgotten. It is not forgotten, because we won the Euroleague in Rome. Lots of stories, awesome things, something very pleasant.”