By Antonis Stroggylakis / info@eurohoops.net
“There he is. The hero of the game,” the press officer of Zenit St. Petersburg said when Mateusz Ponitka walked out of the locker room of his team, following the away match against Olympiacos Piraeus and the Russian team’s first-ever EuroLeague win.
“No, no,” a smiling Ponitka replied when Eurohoops asked him if he feels like that.
While Ponitka didn’t feel like he deserved any special credit or a hero’s recognition, his teammates definitely treated him as such when he was substituted with 50 seconds left in overtime and Zenit up 67 – 73. He went to the bench exhausted and limping after putting on some copious amounts of energy on both ends of the floor for his team.
Ponitka had just completed a sequence of win-sealing actions during the last stretch of overtime. The Polish swingman made a cut to the basket to score the basket and win the foul for the 3-point play that handed the 67 – 73 lead to Zenit. When Olympiacos guard Kevin Punter tried to answer with a layup, Ponitka soared for the help defense with a tremendous leap to block his opponent and secure the 6-point advantage for his team with a minute remaining.
These plays were the icing on Ponitka’s top performance in the season so far: A team-high 18 points (7/11 from the field), five rebounds plus a +18 presence while on the floor. The 26-year-old player was scoring the ball by slashing his way through the Reds’ defense like knife cuts through hot butter, to hit a couple contested shots or tough floaters under pressure.
It was a much-welcome return to form for him.
“To be honest, the last three weeks, I think I was in a bit of a slump. I was not myself,” Ponitka admitted to Eurohoops. He was coming to the game vs. Olympiacos with a 4.5 points average over two EuroLeague games, plus 2.5 points in two VTB League matches. “The World Cup in China was great for all of us in Poland and the national team. A historic run. It gives you a lot of emotions but also tiredness. Takes some energy from you. So, I felt a little bit out of battery. I think I’m getting back on track now. And I’ll be working hard with my team to win some extra games.”
Among Ponitka’s contributions to Zenit’s win was some lockdown defense on Olympiacos captain and EuroLeague legend Vassilis Spanoulis. Ponitka contained the action of the Greek guard, who was called a “God who can do anything” by Zenit coach Joan Plaza during a timeout.
“It’s always fun,” Ponitka said when he was asked about guarding Spanoulis. “He’s one of the greatest guards in history in Europe. I love challenges and for me, it’s an extra challenge. I believe he knows that every time he steps on the floor everybody sees the challenge in guarding him. I really respect him. I was watching most of his games. I have really, really big respect for him.”
Zenit grabbed its first victory in its maiden EuroLeague campaign by accomplishing nothing short of a triumph in Piraeus against Olympiacos. It was quite the bounce-back for them after losing the games vs. Alba Berlin and Barcelona by 20 and 24 points respectively.
“We were working hard to come here and fight,” Ponitka said to Eurohoops. “We knew that at some point we are going to break our bad streak. we knew that we had to be patient and really fight until the end. Because you know, Olympiacos is a great club. They have won EuroLeague titles and are especially good here in their arena. We took our chances. Maybe we shouldn’t have come to overtime. We made some mistakes. In the end, we won, so we are happy about it.”
Ponitka has been used in being part of significant results or runs. Some weeks ago, he spearheaded Poland’s efforts in the World Cup with 13.5 points and 6.8 rebounds while the national team accomplished a first-time ride to the quarterfinals and finished at a historic-best Top 8.
“It’s a great feeling [being part of historic results]. We got to stay humble, though. We have to work hard for the games that come. Because there will be more and more games. More difficult games. We sent a kind of message that we will fight. That we will be competitive in EuroLeague.”
The last time Ponitka played in EuroLeague was back in 2015 with Polish club Zielona Gora. Could his return to the top-tier continental competition result in a breakthrough season for him at this level?
“We’ll see. As long as my team will win, it’s going to be a good year for all of us. I didn’t come here to make any crazy stats. I already did that back in the day. I have nothing to prove statistics-wise, in my opinion. I just want my team to win. As long as we’re winning and I’m part of this, it will be a great feeling.”
Photo: Eurokinissi, EuroLeague Basketball