By Dionysis Aravantinos / info@eurohoops.net
Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens second-half comeback led Xavi Pascual’s team over Real Madrid in an impressive last-minute thriller. After the game coach, Pablo Laso and Xavi Pascual shared their opinion on the game and answered a few questions.
Pablo Laso was asked about Luka Doncic: “The best thing about him is his composure for his age but I always think that players have a lot of way to improve. Luka can do a lot of things better, but you ask me about him because he is a great talent. He can work and become better but for him basketball is natural. We are proud that we brought a 13-year old in Real, and he know is helping this team at just 18-years in the EuroLeague. He accepts that he has to keep on working and improving his game.”
Luka Doncic had a mediocre game despite his 19 points and 6 rebounds as he also finished with a career-high eight turnovers and a season-low 14 PIR.
Laso’s comments on the game: “Congratulations to Panathinaikos for the victory. We played solid in the first half, had control of the tempo, but in the second half we lost a little bit of the energy, we had some stupid turnovers and in the end, we had an open shot to win the game. It is sad when you lose the game, but we did some things to stay in the game in the fourth quarter. Like I said congratulations to Panathinaikos for keep fighting in the game.”
When asked about injuries: It is difficult to play with five missing players. It is tough, but I think that the strength of the team has to be the whole squad. We have some players who have stepped up and we are going to keep on fighting. The hardest thing about basketball is injuries. The game plan changes and I am very proud of my players stepping up on these occasions.
Xavi Pascual also commented on his team as he was pleased with the result: “Thank you to all of our supporters who came in the arena. We could not find a way to play defense in the 20 minutes. Madrid played excellent in the first half with their incredible quality. After half-time we changed the tempo of the game with defense, we controlled the offense, we passed the ball better and attacked. We made tough shots in the end. We are very happy for the final 20 minutes and the result but we cannot start the game as we did today.”
Xavi Pascual on the team’s comeback: “It is tough to defeat Real Madrid when being down by 14 points. We are a team that makes many turnovers on offense but plays tough defense. In the second half, we played great defense and did not allow Real to score easy points. This was a great win, that makes us feel very well.”
When asked about keeping Madrid to under 80 points: “It is tough to keep Real Madrid under 80 points. Campazzo and Doncic made tough shots, they have quality players, they score easy points and are a great offensive team. We managed to score 82 points and I’m pleased with the way things turned out.”