betprepare.com

Panathinaikos will be able to rely on fan support today

The team from Athens finished their punishment of playing three matches with no fans. PAOK stood up for 25 minutes on Tuesday, but Panathinaikos crushed them completely in the last quarter

www.lokobasket.com

Panathinaikos weren't in a good place before the beginning of the semifinal series, because a few players were missing (Pappas, Batista, Diamantidis, Gist), and they also couldn't count on fan support. The final result shows they dominated completely, but the fact is that the match was evened out for 25 minutes, before PAOK fell apart. After 45-45 in the middle of the third period, Panathinaikos made a 30-6 series in the next ten minutes, crushing their opponent completely.

- I'm really content with our defense, especially in the second half-time, it gave us energy for the offense, too. Everything has to start with the defense in every match - coach Manolopoulos said. His team were lead by the tall players, Mavrokefalidis (16p, 7r), and Fotsis (12p, 11r).

Panathinaikos took the first step, they'll have their fans there today, and that will only be another incentive. The goal is to leave for Thessaloniki leading 2-0, because they confirmed this season how hard it is to play at PAOK's court. Besides Pappas and Gist whose season definitely ended, Batista remains questionable.

www.lokobasket.com

- We expect PAOK to be better on Thursday. It'll be a different match, we'll have our fans who give us extra energy - Manolopoulos added.

PAOK can definitely regret not keeping the game up for a few more minutes on Tuesday, to take the game to an intensive ending. They stuck to their game plan well, forced the game of positions, but as the time went on, they had more and more problems with Panathinaikos's defense.

- To beat a time like Panathinaikos, you have to play well for the whole 40 minutes. We increased the pressure in the second half-time, but we also made a lot of mistakes, so we lost - Odum said.

PAOK will have a really hard job to do today, with the opponents' fans there. The guests are aware they'll have to avoid oscillations because Panathinaikos only need a few minutes to create a big difference. The American center Vaughn is still struggling with an injury, so the chances of him playing today are slim.

- It's only 1-0, and in the end, it doesn't matter if you lose by one or 25 points. The match will be tougher on Thursday, because the audience will create extra pressure. We have to play firmer and score the shots we missed in the first match - Bremer said.

The first match only confirmed that this is a duel of two excellent defensive teams. Panathinaikos broke the game with their defense, and they'll try to score more easy points from the fastbacks. On the other hand, PAOK will have to force position game if they want to be successful, reduce technical fouls to a minimum, and have really good fastbacks from the defense. They did that well on Tuesday, for the first 25 minutes, and that's the only way to lead Panathinaikos to an intense ending of the match.