By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Panathinaikos had a new coach on the bench, but everything else was pretty much the same. Fenerbahce prevailed by 26 points (100-74) and the score says everything you need to know about the game.
Marko Guduric with 18 points was the top scorer of the winning side, Jan Vesely added 12 points and seven rebounds as Fenerbahce got its fifth straight win on the way to a 10-10 record.
“It was a team effort and credit goes to everyone because effort and energy were there”, added Fenerbahce coach Igor Kokoskov after the end result.
Thanks to a four-minute 18-0 run which made the score 31-12 at the end of the first quarter, Fenerbahce got a solid advantage and never lost it until the end. Panathinaikos managed to trim the lead to eight points (38-30) before going to the locker rooms for halftime trailing by 14 (48-34) and couldn’t get any closer until the end of the game.
Jan Vesely (9 p.) finished the first 20 minutes of action just under the ten-point mark as Fenerbahce shot 71,4% in two-pointers and 40% in threes, while Panathinaikos numbers were 44% and 25% respectively.
Nothing changed in the second half, on the contrary, the hosts finished the game shooting 62,5% in threes (15/27). Fenerbahce was leading by 24 (74-50) during the third quarter and by 30 (100-70) just before the end of the game.
Plus the winning side managed to keep Nemanja Nedovic to just six points. Ioannis Papapetrou missed his second game due to injury, Aaron White with 13 was the top scorer of Panathinaikos, but the Greens on the first game of coach Oded Kattash in EuroLeague couldn’t do much and dropped to 6-13.
Still, the Israeli coach who was hired just one day before the game tried to give a positive note at the press conference: “It was a really bad game for us, however, we need time and if we fight, I think we can be ok”.