By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Panathinaikos AKTOR survived Belgrade and returned the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoff series with Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv to OAKA Athens for decisive Game 5 (07/05).
The Israeli team’s coach, Oded Kattash, spoke about the upcoming match and touched on players’ availability regarding Wade Baldwin and John DiBartolomeo’s injuries.
“Of course, we want everyone to be healthy and in the best possible condition. We’ll wait for a final examination to see if it’s even remotely likely that Baldwin will be in the top 12. We’ll see. DiBartolomeo is fine; he will play,” Kattash said.
He also commented on the Game 4 events and Panathinaikos‘ win in the final moments.
“When the match ended, we felt we missed an opportunity. They managed to score enough points in the end. Some things we could have prevented, some less so. Nevertheless, we have given ourselves a chance to qualify for Game 5.”
No road team has ever won a Game 5 of the EuroLeague Playoffs, and Maccabi‘s head coach is aware of that.
“What we’re going to do is something that’s never been done in history, but after this crazy season, we want to give ourselves a chance to do it. Of course, I think we can do it; we won there twice already, both in the playoffs and in the regular season. We will try to do it again,” Kattash concluded.
“We need to limit their pace and stop Lessort”
If Baldwin doesn’t recover on time for the match, all eyes will be on Lorenzo Brown to perform for Maccabi.
“He is a big part of our team, a player who scores and creates. He can do many things well, but we will have to make up for his absence with a team effort,” Brown said.
The experienced point guard also spoke about key points of the upcoming game and emphasized the importance of stopping Mathias Lessort.
“We will have to improve defensively in this game. I think in the last game, we were good in the first part of the game, but then we made a lot of mistakes and didn’t get enough rebounds. If we improve in these areas, I am sure we will win. We will have to be focused, limit their pace, and stop Lessort, but it will not be easy. The pressure will be on Panathinaikos because they are playing at home. We have nothing to lose.”