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Bauermann: Now is the best time to be playing against Panathinaikos

PAO have still not risen to their desired level, they have injury issues and this is another game which they will have to pull through on defense. As the home team's coach also prefers defense, we are in for a very tough game and few points

Lietuvos are the last team to have qualified for the Euro League this season, and managed to do so in a qualifying tournament they hosted, by beating Riga, Oldenburg and the Belgian Oostende. Their last season was anything but successful (2 wins in 10 games) and after the final game the whole club was delighted that they've been given a new chance to show what they can.

After taking over last year mid-season, Bauermann remained at the helm of the team, which guarantees we will be seeing an even more defensively oriented Lietuvos this season. It was that tough defense in the second half vs Oostende that won them the game, as confirmed by the players themselves later. Baumann's basketball philosophy is well known, and Lietuvos have already proven that last season in the final series of the national championship against Zalgiris.

The Lithuanian team had a great opening to the season, after very good work in the preparatory period, they are still undefeated in official games. Other than the three wins in the qualifications for this competition, Lietuvos are also undefeated in the national championship, and have started the VTB league by winning in a tough away game vs Novgorod. Though they were the underdogs during the bigger part of the game, they managed to make up a 14 point lag and win by playing great in the last quarter (22-7).

It was defense that tipped the scales in their favor again. Lietuvos were not brilliant on the offense, it took them long to get into their rhythm vs the aggressive home team. Bauremann's team had a very poor shooting night (19/50), with only Seibutis playing at an adequate level with 6/8 shots from the field. The others were not their usual selves, but Lietuvos shot 22 free throws courtesy of Nizhny and that brought them the win.

-We've accomplished one of our main tasks this season, entering the main lot of the Euro League, and that allowed us to enter the game with confidence and try to win. We could not find the right feeling for a long long time, we lost the ball for no reason at times, and lacked rebounding. Yet the confidence we had helped the players turn the game around- said Dirk Bauermann after the victory.

The away team today are one of the defensively strongest teams in Europe. The Greek champions were defeated by their biggest rivals this week, but a total of only 100 points in the game demonstrate the kind of basketball that was played.
Lietuvos have not met such defense yet this season, and this will be a big test for Bauremann's team. They do play better in their home court, but the pressure Nizhny put them under cannot even begin to compare with what the away team will be doing in this game.

-If there is ever a good time to play vs Panathinaikos, then it is now, at season's opening. It is clear they are arriving with a chip on their shoulder after losing to their biggest rival. The most important thing is that the mood in our team is good- said Bauermann.

-The away team have brought back Batiste and Fotsis, but most of their players from last season are still there. They've been together for a long time, and are a dangerous team. They use pick-and-roll a lot, and at the same time stop their opponents well, they are one of the  best teams in that segment- added Gecevicius.

Lietuvos will find it difficult to get clear shooting positions. The away team are aware that they cannot allow Lietuvos to enter a shooting series under any circumstances, as that could be deadly in the boiling atmosphere created by the home crowd. We can expect Panathinaikos to control the rhythm and impose a somewhat slower tempo, which suited Lietuvos in Novgorod. Bauermann will certainly try to punish the possible slow defense return of the away team by playing quick transition, but few managed to be successful there...

This will be a special game for Gliniadakis and Tepic, who played for Panathinaikos in the past. Working together with Cook, Tepic will have to find a way to stop Diamantidis. Lietuvos will be relying on the shooting performance of Seibutis and Gecevicius who are in very good form at season's opening. The problem for Lietuvos is the paint, where Panathinaikos have a very deep rotation with Batiste, Fotsis, Lasme and others, and Gliniadakis and Palacios will bear a lot of the burden there.

Panathinaikos went to Lithuania after the hardest possible defeat, the one vs Olympiakos. The even harder part was the way they lost, as no coach in the world can be satisfied with his team after they score only 45 points in a game, and Argyris Pedoulakis is no exception:

-It is as if we were not prepared for such a match. We will need a lot more training to reach the right level. We did not choose our shots well enough, and we also had poor rebounding, which is supposed to be our forte. Our big guys are still not fully ready and we need to work on that.

One of the reasons behind that is the recent injury of Mavrokefalidis, who missed a lot and Pedoulakis might have been better off if he used Lasme more. Another player came back against Oly, out of the blue - Roko Leni Ukic. Although he was supposed to be out for some time longer, Roko decided to suck it up and play the derby:

-My Achilles tendon no longer hurt and I told the coaching team I'd like to play the game.

He may as well not have played, as 0-4 shots from the field did not exactly help his team. Prior to leaving for Lithuania, Roko himself admitted he was not in shape:

-Speaking of being in shape to play, of course I'm not at my optimum. Still, I'll do my best to help in any way, at least with my experience.

Panathinaikos evidently still have a way to go, and the only thing they did well was of course the specialty of their coach - defense. Regardless of how badly they play, PAO will always have high quality defense, so even Oly managed to score only 55 points. They will need the same today, as they have plenty of problems:

-Mike Bramos has stayed in Greece due to a viral infection and will perhaps arrive later. I have more players whose preparatory period was disrupted by injuries, and we shall solve that through training, in order to get them to their right form- said Pedoulakis, touching upon that subject again before departing to Lithuania.

PAO have approached this away game with utmost seriousness, so they departed two days earlier. At this moment, every training is important for them, as Pedoulakis is aware that they still have work to do:

-We have a lot of problems at the moment, and we're a long way away from becoming the team we were at the end of last season. We have just started and a lot of work remains to be done.

Power forward James Gist is one of those who will need to adjust to the new setup, as he will be playing at position 3 part of the time this year. Prior to the Lietuvos game, he too pointed out too few games played as the biggest problem for Panathinaikos:

-We are still trying to get our bearing, while Lietuvos have already had five hard games in the Euro League qualifications, vs very strong teams. They have an excellent team and great support from their home crowd, and this will be a real test for us, to see whether we can play at the right level throughout 40 minutes.

One of those familiar with the Lithuanian players is surely Jonas Maciulis, the Lithuanian playing for PAO, who played for the national team this summer, and is the right person to give his comment prior to the game:

-It is always a joy for me to come back home, and I will be especially committed in this game. I am very aware of their quality, and a lot will depend today on our defense, especially holding Seibutis and Gecevicius, their most dangerous players- concluded Maciulis.

He is the very person who will be in charge of the two players he mentioned, and with more play time too, as Bramos stayed in Athens after all, and did not travel with the team. With Ukic not fully recovered yet, that means we will be seeing the perimeter lineup of Diamantidis-Curry-Maciulis most of the time, and much will depend on their performance.

PAO should be markedly stronger under the rim, as Batiste, Lasme, Mavrokefalidis and Fotsis are much stronger and higher quality players than Glyniadakis, Palacios and Jelovac. If they manage to dominate on the rebound, with the default excellent defense, PAO can reach a win in the boiling Siemens Arena. 

I think that this will be yet another low scoring match for Panathinaikos - they played a 100 point derby match against Olympiakos two days ago. Panathinaikos always tend to keep the score below 70 points for each team, and have a rock-solid defense able to do it tonight. Although the Lithuanians will be playing at home, coach Bauermann has set them up as a defensive team, as evident in the Novgorod match - it was a far cry from run and gun basketball, as Lietuvos made just 50 shots from play. Panathinaikos are likely to try to impose a slower tempo, keep the defense tight as Lietuvos wouldn't go on a three-pointer spree. Diamantidis, Maciulis and Curry are excellent guards, while Batiste, Gist and the rest of frontcourt are able to hold the paint well. The Greek team didn't concede more than 70 points often last season - the Euroleague quarterfinal tie with Barcelona is still fresh in memory, a series in which neither team went over 70 points in in regular time in five matches! Although an under bet on Lietuvos is a good option, I think an overall under is a far better one. PAO are not so good at scoring to easily score 80 at Rytas, as Bauermann has put the emphasis on the defense, changing the entire Lietuvos outlook. They played a game with only 151 points against a quick Riga team and the finals of the Euroleague qualification tournament against Oostende with141 points. The only exception to the rule was the match against Oldenburg, but the match against Panathinaikos should be a low scoring affair. I think that both teams are going to be well below the set margins - it can be expected that neither team will score 70. I honestly can't imagine a scenario in which this game could finish close to 150 points, except the overtimes.