A good team, which is not | Team Blog – Nikos Papadogiannis

Nikos Papadogiannis considers Panathinaikos’ heavy defeat to be normal, but his image on the ground is disappointing.

Eight nights before the derby match that will largely judge his psychological state for the next two months (until the last eight of the Greek Cup and … we’ll see), Panathinaikos He seems caught at a strange crossroads, both intellectually and competitively.

The previous weeks winning streak vanished once the team hit a plane, but let’s just say double away is an asterisk, as conflict with him Olympic It will take place on the familiar grounds of OAKA.

How many points of self-confidence and ambition have the “Greens” been gnawed at by the three consecutive defeats in the past ten days? And what exactly is the message sent from the floor to the podium and back to the locker room when a key CEO, who has even watched the last games with the clear eyes of those off duty, talks about the basketball team’s divorce?

“When you’re not playing as a team, you lose to anyone, anywhere.” He stated bluntly, at his sad comeback partythe Marius Grigonis. the George Vovoras He said the same thing in different words on Nova’s mic, attributing the poor image to a “lack of focus on defense and offense”, but the point remains the same.

Panathinaikos, who walked along the waterfront of the Bosphorus Strait admiring their two Ives Trophies dressed as tourists, were a team reconciled with defeat, unable to make a proper speech with the subject, the verb and the object. Where was the Forgotten Warrior’s gaze this time;

Cynics everywhere would reply that there was no realistic chance of victory, but the same was true on the cards of the previous match, with shields. Barcelona in his home pleasant. Panathinaikos went to Polis with the absence (Gudaitis, P. Kalaitzakis, Bohorides), but Ives was also playing without them Larkin, Zizic, PolonaraCinnamon on top.

I go back to the words of Grigonis and translate them into simple Greek and Lithuanian basketball, with a Serbian accent: Panathinaikos’ problem tonight (and Panathinaikos in the first half in almost all the previous games) It wasn’t a double-digit loss, but his competitive streak.

To the strange mix of one-way mismatched players that make up the squad, some playing only offense and others only playing defense, last month Dwayne Bacon, which besides the huge boon of 20 points also brings some curses. As I wrote the other day, his inclusion in a team is good but not as good as himself, It is an unanswered mystery.

Panathinaikos is now only playing iso in order to give space to his great scorer and – let’s just say – he is doing very well. However, this alienates almost all of his other offensive tools. Bacon has an odd habit of wasting entire halves before finding a beat and stuffing baskets in the second half of games. How many others have two consecutive answers of twenty minutes each with 0 + 20 points?

Unfortunately for Panathinaikos tonight, Efes (who scored 1.3 points per possession tonight) is neither Valencia nor Virtus. The American attacks 0/9 in the first half against a defense adapted to him cost him the same value as the touchline. WaltersFrom PapajianiFrom dowry. Now and then from a trifle, in a good sense, williams.

the Dejan Radonicwho frankly states that a player like Bacon does not fit into his philosophy, is called upon to build a system that will take advantage of American talent. Without castrating himself, others, or his coaching philosophy.

Well, with a turn of 8-9 players. His wonderful presence Lefteri Mendzuka In recent games shows that someone deserves a chance in the shadows. The kid played 15 minutes tonight and scored 6 points while chasing Will Cliburn As far as amoustakas can chase the event’s MVP candidate.

The one who seems to suffer the most, and doesn’t speak up, is George Papgiannis, who didn’t get balls on offense and didn’t help with his back when he went out to the perimeter to locate short balls. He is 36 years old Dunston It is not the first place, nor the second, nor the last Who becomes a hero to get out of this situationBut Papagiannis, whose comments are barely heard from the spotlight, is certainly the last to blame. Well, before the last.