Panathinaikos changed his mind, exorcised the ghosts and looked up

How long was Panathinaikos on New Year's Eve? do not search. Five full years. A lot had to pass for the “Greens” to return home smiling, whether they were players, coaches or, of course, their people. That is, what happened in Owaka this Thursday, four days before the end of 2023, with its easy victory over Red Star and confirmation that the segment has changed this year, and the ambitions and atmosphere have returned completely different.

Yes, it's not the same Panathinaikos this year. Who lost last year and the year before last to Olympiacos in decisive matches for the development of the year, but also in 2020 against Red Star!

Something like that… It created a New Year's curse, as Clover also lost in 2019 (to Real Madrid). In order to achieve another win for Panathinaikos in the Euroleague, on New Year's Eve, we will have to go to almost the distant 2018, when coach Rick Pitino and star player Nick Kalathie (27p-10as) defeated CSKA Moscow.

It's a completely different time now. Panathinaikos has turned the page, returned to the top of the Europa League, finished the first round with 10 wins in 17 matches, and has every reason to believe that it will continue at the same rate in the second half of the regular season.

Don't forget that time is on the side of a team that is making a fresh start, and chemistry will reach more desirable levels as matches go by, while injury problems slowly disappear. Juancho Hernangometh has already been integrated, and Ioannis Papapetrou is expected to be integrated soon, so the Ataman, at some point, will have all the weapons up his sleeve.

Fatih Terim would certainly be jealous of the recognition his compatriot received in Ouaka. Not without reason, anyway. Within a short period of time, the ataman managed to put Panathinaikos on the right track and his team to slowly build character, achieving important victories…

The new coach of the football team certainly wants to do the same things at Leoforos, as he got an idea of ​​the passionate PAO fans and heard (?) the slogans against the ownership of PAE, but also in favor of his former Ivan Jovanovic..

Pressure on Teodosik

The plan to neutralize Asteras was simple. Milos Teodosic should be 'tight'. Panagiotis Kalaitzakis initially led the effort. The Serbian mastermind, after an impressive night against Maccabi (27 points – 14 bottom, 40 points in the classification system), felt the hosts' suffocating pressure from the start.

They wouldn't let him catch his breath, and when Dr. Grant walked onto the floor, he knew he was going to have a very bad night. Milos finished the game with zero points (!) and only 3 assists, with the Greens' defense getting a perfect ten points per tackle.

Inevitably, Giannis Severopoulos has left Iago Do Santos on the ground for too long, who, although he has pace, is not ready in time to handle the burden of guiding Asteras, especially in such a seat. Napier's departure to Milan deprives “Red and White” Belgrade of a solution on the sidelines, and we do not know if “Red and White” Belgrade has enough time to cover him..

It was a matter of two shots

With Teodosic essentially out of the game, Panathinaikos controlled the game from the start. Yes, he had problems against the excellent Asteras defense with the substitutions, which mainly hampered Nan (0/5 three-pointers), yes, the evening was not impressive on the long shot (5/22 T), but the feeling was that with two or three shots. Precise shots That Panathinaikos will secure victory is a given.

Sloukas scored two consecutive goals and Grigonis scored another goal at the beginning of the third period, and the difference rose to 11 points and the modest party ended. As, in fact, Astera's best offensive player, Luka Mitrovic, was injured after a basket, when he fumbled on his landing, Severopoulos missed not one, but … two shots.

The last thing he did was when towards the end of the match, taking advantage of the home team's laxity, his team was reduced from 12 to 8. But the ataman knew what he had to do. Throwing Maestro Sloukas and fighter Mitoglou to the ground again, Panathinaikos pressed the gas lightly, escaped again and was no longer in danger…

Well done to the landlord as well

Slokas did his notoriously good job of creating chances (7 assists), but he also scored eight straight points when his team needed them most. Grant was very serious, almost infallible in both parts of the court (defending on Teodosic-Nedovic and 14 points on 5/7 shooting), Mitoglou was hot again (15 points – 6 points) but Mathias Lesueur should get another thumbs up .

The Frenchman played with a sore back and it was clear that he did not have the energy and intensity that he had in previous matches, but firstly he played normally, not even thinking about the possibility of being absent and secondly he made the difference again by 13p. And 8B, no matter how much good people Joel Boloboy pressures him.

Tour in Spain

After exorcising the New Year's curse in recent years, Panathinaikos has reached the top and that is where it wants to stay, says Ataman. The first opportunity to convince him of his ability to achieve success will be next week, with the two races being held in Spain.

2024 begins with Devil's Week and Panathinaikos will have to play first in Vitoria against Baskonia (3/1) and then in Valencia (5/1). In other words, he will need to… break other traditions he has built in recent years, when he usually loses on Iberian soil, in order to increase his victories and stay on track to qualify for the playoffs, but also – why not – a home advantage.

It's not easy, but who said Panathinaikos was only built to win easy matches?