Panathinaikos BC AKTOR – Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 83-85

Panathinaikos BC AKTOR fell to Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 85-83 at Telekom Center Athens, in a game for Round 28 of the EuroLeague regular season. Juancho Hernangomez led the Greens in scoring with 18 points.

The game was evenly contested in the opening minutes, with Panathinaikos BC AKTOR taking a 6-5 lead in the 3rd minute, before the visitors moved ahead 14-10 at the 6-minute mark and extended their advantage to 20-12 in the 8th. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul pushed the margin to 25-16 a minute later, before the first quarter ended 25-19. The Greens cut it to 27-25 in the 14th minute and 30-29 in the 15th, drawing level at 34-34 in the 16th. In the 18th minute, Panathinaikos BC AKTOR regained the lead (38-36) and went into halftime in front, 42-41.

The Turkish side reclaimed the advantage at the start of the second half (42-43, 21’), but the Greens responded to go up 48-43 in the 23rd minute. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul trimmed the deficit to 49-48 in the 24th, only for the home team to answer with a 6-0 run and make it 55-48 at the 26-minute mark. The visitors closed to 58-54 in the 28th, while the third quarter ended with Panathinaikos BC AKTOR ahead 62-56. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul came within one (62-61) in the 31st minute and moved in front 64-62 a minute later. In the 33rd minute, the Turkish team extended the lead to 70-65, but the Greens tied the game at 73-73 in the 35th. Ultimately, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul scored on the final possession of the game to seal the 85-83 victory.

Quarters: 19-25, 42-41, 62-56, 83-85.

Panathinaikos BC AKTOR (Ataman): Shorts 10, Kalaitzakis, Osman 8, Holmes 4, Sloukas 10 (1), Rogkavopoulos 5 (1), Grant 4, Nunn 17 (1), Faried 7, Hernangomez 18 (3), Mitoglou, Yurtseven.

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul (Jasikevicius): Bacot, Birsen, Baldwin 13 (1), Horton-Tucker 6, Boston Jr. 2, De Colo 10, Biberovic 26 (6), Bitim 5 (1), Jantunen 11 (2), Colson 3 (1), Birch 3.

Serelis: “The crucial point was the fourth quarter”

The assistant coach of Ergin Ataman at Panathinaikos BC AKTOR, Christos Serelis, stated at the Press Conference following the home game against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul:

“It was definitely a tough loss. We wanted the win; it was important for us against Fenerbahce, a very good team. The crucial point was the fourth quarter. For 30 minutes we played the defense we wanted. In the fourth quarter we allowed 29 points and, with some poor decisions on offense, we eventually lost the game in this tough way. We have to keep going. We have a EuroLeague game in two to three weeks. We have a domestic league game and then the Final-8 of the Cup. We need to work and be ready for next week.

I wouldn’t say fatigue led to some poor decisions. Nunn was ready to play; he practiced with us all week, he wasn’t coming off a long absence, and he is generally a very well-conditioned player. Of course, the team made some poor offensive decisions and we had bad spacing. Many times, when a player seems to take a bad or forced shot, it might be because the team didn’t help him properly or wasn’t in the right spacing to create the correct conditions. When a game is decided in the final moments and certain players have been on the court in the second half and seem able to control it, it’s difficult to make many changes at the end. From a coaching perspective, you go with the players who were there to finish the game. Everything else is something we need to review, discuss and evaluate in terms of our decisions.”

Regarding the signing of Nigel Hayes-Davis, he added: “He hasn’t even arrived yet. He is a very big player, someone who can help us at multiple positions and allow us to do things differently both defensively and offensively in areas where we are lacking. The fair and right thing is to wait for him to arrive, integrate with the team and then talk. I want to say that in every game so far, even when we had injuries, no matter how many, we have the roster, the ability and the level to beat any team in Europe under any circumstances. We’ve done it. Obviously, a player like him will give us something extra to create different lineups and additional ways to attack.”

On the issue of consistency and the team’s passion, he noted: “I don’t see it as a break. In one week, one of the team’s three goals will be decided. The upcoming games are more important than today’s in the sense that they determine trophies. Today’s game did not decide a trophy. Body language… It’s clear we are not satisfied with how we’ve played as a team. The players know that too. We’ve had some losses we didn’t want. We wanted to play better. For our team, I’ve said it many times and everyone says it, we have a very good locker room and great relationships within the team. Nothing has changed in that regard. What has changed is that we are now in February, we are behind — we’re not hiding — we’re not where we would like to be, and we see every game as a final.

We’ve discussed that the games we lost were, with all due respect, against teams of slightly lower level. Everything has two sides. That gives us hope that even if we don’t achieve the record we would like, we have proven that we can win anywhere, in any way. We have tough games ahead, difficult road games until the end. The positive is that we can beat anyone. It will depend on how we play and how we mentally approach each game as to where we end up. We are a team that can theoretically and practically win all of the remaining games. Game by game, we must focus on securing all our home wins and as many away wins as possible. Next week we compete for the first trophy. All our focus and effort turn to that. We want it. It could play a role in our psychology and in the continuation of the season if we win the first trophy.”