By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Panathinaikos remains unbeaten in the Greek league after getting the road win against Promitheas Patras and Rick Pitino was ready to repeat a historic quote.
“Larry Bird is not walking through that door, fans. Kevin McHale is not walking through that door, and Robert Parish is not walking through that door. And if you expect them to walk through that door, they’re going to be gray and old”, Pitino has said as the coach of the Celtics when his team was beaten in Boston at the buzzer by the Toronto Raptors after a made three by Vince Carter.
This time around, Pitino’s team got the 86-69 road win and Pitino emphasized defense using almost the same quote in the press conference, saying for his players: “Steph Curry and Kevin Durant are not walking through that door, so you have to do it with defense every night”.
The overall context was quite different, as Panathinaikos, which has a similar logo with the Celtics, using the Shamrock as an emblem, has beaten EuroLeague powerhouse CSKA Moscow in Pitino’s debut in Europe, less than 36 hours before Sunday’s Greek league game. “We have five deflections in halftime, the lowest in my coaching career“, said Pitino about the game against Promitheas in which his team finished the game with 26 deflections and the W.