By Dionysis Aravantinos / info@eurohoops.net
Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens remains unbeaten at home as the team got an important win over Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv. After the game coach, Xavi Pascual and Neven Spajiha shared their thoughts on the contest.
Pascual was asked about Nick Calathes and his injury: “He is an important player for us, but we don’t have to have our minds only on him. We managed to fill in the gap today against Maccabi.” Coach Pascual also stated that Calathes will not travel to Belgrade with the team.
He also commented on Crvena Zvezda: “They play 20 minutes with two players playing from the three-point line. We will have to be physical, tough and consistent. They have a fighting spirit, I think they are the first ranked team in offensive rebounds and now we just have to think about the game. When we lose we think of the previous game, now we have to think of the next one.”
Coach Pascual on the team’s win and the importance of it: “The win is dedicated to Tassos Stefanou who was part of the Panathinaikos family. This is for you. We played a very good and serious game. We knew before the game that we had to control our turnovers, and Maccabi is one of the best teams on transition basketball in Europe. They scored 20 points in the fastbreak. It was important that we controlled this. We played well when we did not lose the ball. In the end, we took this important win for us.”
Moreover, coach Spahija’s also commented on the game: “Congratulations to Panathinaikos. They played very good basketball for 40 minutes. When we came close we did some stupid mistakes, we missed many good looks and if you want to play against these kinds of teams you have to do something extra. It is difficult to play here, in an arena with great fans, great talent and players. We had many misunderstandings defensively. It is what it is, and now we have to work, play hard and practice hard. We are a new team, not a young team and now we need to do more things.”