Serelis: “We are not the defensive team we used to be, attacking talent alone is not enough”

After a match-thriller, o Panathinaikos paid for its passive defense and the many mistakes in the attack, with Monaco leaving with a “double” from OAKA (91-88) in the debut of Vassilis Spanoulis.

After the match, Ergin Ataman’s assistant, Christos Serelisspoke to the Nova camera and addressed the team’s poor defensive function, stressing that attacking talent alone is not enough, making it clear that last year’s Euroleague trophy came through the defense and that this should be the guide for the team’s future.

The statements of Christos Serelis in detail:



For the match: “We were very bad in attack against Monaco’s formation initially. I think Matias has only lost 1 two-pointer, he should have taken the ball more times, we should have created conditions for him to take the ball in some mismatches and against Brown. On the other hand, in defense, we had problems with this formation, they opened up the field enough and we didn’t provide any help. With two big shots Monaco got back into the game, it really stressed us out and our attacks at the end were pretty bad.”

About where Panathinaikos AKTOR is based: “We are a team that usually wins games from the outside, that we win from the defense. We are not a team that will score 100 points if the score goes high, we are a team that will score 90 if we play better defense than we have been playing in recent matches. We get confidence from the defense, you can’t have such a stadium, an amazing atmosphere, and not put the crowd in the game. The team is to blame for that of course. When the crowd entered the field with 2-3 defenses, it tilted the match and when you have one possession, one basket, the opponent has the advantage because they have nothing to do.”



For the image of Monaco: “I expected such an image from Monaco, new coach, great respect for him. Obviously, all the children tried to show their best face. Today James with 2 shots gave 10 assists. Everyone was committed to one plan, to play for the team and give their best. We theoretically adjusted to the ISOs of James and Okobo, and the many pick-and-rolls he’s been getting so far… That’s been a problem for us. Diallo scored 24 points, he did a lot of damage to us, the Papagiannis we know did a lot of damage, Blossomgame did a lot of damage, that is, guys who were not in the first choices of Monaco and from the very good creation of Monaco and because we left players who I haven’t had many possessions but they are competent. And we paid for that.”

For the group problem: “It is clear that the image is troubling. We know what has happened, we are not the defensive team we were. No need to overanalyze to understand it. It’s not enough offensive talent, very big and good guards to create and execute for us to win games. The defense is what gave us the trophy last year and that’s what we have to do again. We don’t do it, we don’t put out the energy we want, we don’t sacrifice our bodies and our hands and that’s why we don’t win the last games. It is clear. It is not something we have to search to find. And the children know it, we talk about it, we say it, but that’s not enough, we also have to show it. It’s not too late, last year we had the same record, maybe a little worse, the bad thing is that we had some good wins away from home, if we had kept our home ground we would have been in a better position for the rest.”

About Diallo: “Diallo is a team player. He will take what the opposing team gives him. He didn’t score because there was a plan for him to score, he scored after we gave him the right. His defense was very dynamic. He’s a kid who can do that. He is a kid who, if in the next game he has to score 6 points and be a star again, he will do it again.”