By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Panathinaikos Athens coach Ergin Ataman said that sidelined guard Kostas Sloukas and forward Juancho Hernangomez will certainly play in the EuroLeague Final Four that will tip off exactly in two weeks.
“They will participate [in the Final Four[ 100 percent,” Ataman said following Panathinaikos’ Greek League 90 – 82 win over Promitheas Patras Friday (10/5). “They will undergo therapy. We’ll have two weeks and the doctors told me that they need a week to 10 days. It’s good for them. They will rest and will be more fresh for the Final Four.”
Sloukas felt a pull in his right calf during Game 5 of the playoffs vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv and played limited minutes (19:38) through pain. It was later revealed that he suffered a strain.
Hernangomez is out with a left calf strain. The Spanish forward had missed Games 2 to 4 of the playoffs, having traveled to his native country for further evaluation of his injury and played in Game 5 upon his return but still needs treatment to fully heal.
Promitheas coach reacts to extended Greek league break due to Euroleague playoffs
After the end of the game, Promitheas coach Ilias Papatheodorou who was ejected in the 13th minute of the game expressed his concern about the fact that the Greek League stopped all action for 23 days to accommodate Panathinaikos and Olympiacos in the EuroLeague playoffs.
On many other domestic leagues that’s not the case and as Papatheodorou said: “Congratulations to Panathinaikos both for the victory and for qualifying for the EuroLeague Final Four. It is a very big success for the club. Congratulations also to Olympiacos for qualifying too. It is a great achievement for Greek basketball to have two teams in the Final Four and combined with the presence of Peristeri in the Final Four of the BCL it is a very nice image for the Greek league and basketball…
So, after the very nice words we said about Panathinaikos and Olympiacos I would like to ask who is in command in Greek basketball? It’s only about those two clubs? Do the rest of us exist? How can one characterize a championship that is interrupted for 23 days? What will be the problem if Panathinaikos and Olympiacos play intermediate games? In which other country in Europe does the league stop for 23 days because there are Euroleague playoffs? In Uganda? In Azerbaijan? It’s like going on vacation and coming back. And why is Real Madrid playing domestic league games during the EuroLeague playoffs? Why is Barcelona playing? Why is Maccabi playing? And what will happen if Panathinaikos loses to Prometheas? Or Olympiacos to Peristeri? Will something change? Will the final be different in the league?”