THE Christos Serelis (who represented Panathinaikos instead of the expelled Ergin Ataman at the press conference) spoke of a bad approach to match with Olympiakos (84-89) after his team lost in Game 1 of the finals.
“Today we were not as we are used to playing in OAKA. We were very bad defenders, we let Olympiakos play as they want in the attack, in five on five. Get differences that matter when playing away from home. We couldn’t find a rhythm offensively to change the momentum of the game and we fatally lost our defense. We definitely need to improve our defense to win in the SEF and take back the advantage“, he emphasized.
“The lads are very experienced, whether we had won or now that we have lost, we will see our mistakes and look to the next game. Olympiacos did not present anything that we did not expect. The teams know each other very well, the players have played countless matches against each other and the only thing that might play a role is fatigue. Our team is very good defensively, but they don’t foul easily. We have noticed it, we have pointed it out, but all year we are not as smart as we should be in our tactics. The defense we played was not as tough as it should have been to take the opponent out of their game“, he added.
Regarding the superiority of Olympiakos among the tall, he said:All five players play defense. Obviously, Olympiacos got a lot of offensive rebounds, but that’s a problem for the whole team because we weren’t aggressive on the ball and we didn’t box out well. We didn’t have the energy and intensity that we’ve had all year. What we should have done, we didn’t do. That’s the problem, not something regular. The team did not present themselves with the same aggression and intensity as they should have».
Regarding Milutinov’s insufficient wear, he emphasized: “When a game ends you analyze it. Our team attacks a lot with pick-and-rolls. Milutinov didn’t make many fouls, they played with changes and we didn’t attack the post many times because we’re not that kind of team anyway. But I don’t think we lost because Milutinov stayed on the court for 32 minutes. Obviously Fal is absent, but it’s not about faces. It’s a matter of approach and ours wasn’t very good. I’m sure it will be fine in the next game».
Source: Sport Fm
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