By Kostas Giataganas/ info@eurohoops.net
CSKA Moscow became the first team this season that left the Olympic Sports Center Athens with… their heads held high, with Dimitris Itoudis’s team consolidating themselves at the top, looking… down on the rest (+2 wins ahead of Olympiacos and Fenerbahce, +3 ahead of Panathinaikos and Real).
The main reason for the Army Team’s 15th win in this season’s marathon was, of course, Sergio Rodriguez, who was acquired in the summer to cover the big gap left by Milos Teodosic for nights like these!
With 21 points and some clutch plays, the most important of which being the three-pointer that made the score 69-74 49 seconds before the expiration, the Spaniard was the big protagonist at the Olympic Sports Center Athens and spoke to Eurohoops about his squad’s big win, his own big night and what is to come in the EuroLeague.
“Winning at the Olympic Sports Center Athens is big,” Rodriguez told Eurohoops. “We lost to Olympiacos on the road, in Barcelona, in Madrid, but this win helps us go higher in the standings and gives us even greater confidence,” the former NBAer explained, tipping his hat to Panathinaikos and their fans, since “every time you come to play at the Olympic Sports Center Athens you know you will encounter an excellent atmosphere from Panathinaikos’s fans, who stand beside a very good team who have been playing very good basketball throughout the season so far and who are tough to beat. Fortunately, we did it.”
Defenses had a starring role in the first half (29-31), with Rodriguez stressing that, “in the first half we missed a lot of shots, but Panathinaikos did so too with 1-for-16 in three-pointers. We knew that this wouldn’t be the case for the entire game and that they would score some shots. Both teams are talented and the win was decided in the details.”
According to CSKA’s second-best scorer (14,7 points) and top passer (5 assists) so far, the key point was their reaction in the third quarter when Panathinaikos got a 10-point lead, highlighting that, with this win, his team made the biggest statement: “Panathinaikos managed to build a lead by scoring some shots and gaining momentum following a flagrant foul they won, scoring a three after that. For us, that point was decisive, because when you play on that court, with those fans and against such a good team, coming back from a 10-point deficit shows the team’s great character. It was the team’s biggest statement in terms of what we’re capable of.”
As for his own crucial performance: “I was feeling very well. It was hard to deal with Panathinaikos’s very good defense since they have big men who marked every opponent effectively with fast switches on the pick-and-rolls. It’s hard to attack, but we found rhythm at the right time when we were trailing by 10 points and, in the end, we were able to do what was necessary to get the win. I tried to help the team. That’s my goal. In these kinds of games, we need solutions and energy from everyone. We found the way and we got solutions out of almost everyone, as they gave their best. We knew it was going to be a difficult game, but we performed well and showed character.”
Lastly, he spoke about what is to come in the EuroLeague and the extent to which his team can continue with greater confidence: “We continue with a good winning streak, but we know that there is still a long way to go until the end of the regular season and we shouldn’t just focus on this win. The competition is very difficult since there are no easy games and we’ re trying to get as many wins as we can. What’s yet to come is even tougher.