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Panathinaikos wins Greek Basketball Cup March 27, 2008

Athens club, an 81-79 winner over Olympiakos, eyeing fourth straight league-and-cup double

  Panathinaikos forward Mike Batiste (left) and Olympiakos’s Panayiotis Vassilopoulos battle under the net in last night’s tense cup final.

Panathinaikos held on for an 81-79 win over Olympiakos in the basketball cup final last night, a triumph that kept the Athens basketball club on track for a fourth consecutive league-and-cup double.

The victory over archrival Olympiakos, the third in as many encounters between the two clubs this season, came as consolation for Panathinaikos following last week’s shock exit from the Euroleague’s Round of 16 after the Greek club was crowned European Champion a season earlier. Olympiakos has not won a title in any competition since 2002.

Strict security measures were implemented for last night’s cup final, with a total of just 1,700 fans of both clubs seated well apart in the 10,000-capacity Hellenikon Stadium in southern Athens. Olympiakos never led in the game, which started tightly with emphasis on defensive play, but the Piraeus team clawed its way back to temporarily level late in the game. The defending champions gradually built momentum for a commanding 63-50 lead at the start of the fourth quarter with a three-point shot from power forward Costas Tsatsaris, a valuable return from injury who was voted the final’s MVP. But Olympiakos then gradually narrowed the gap to trail by five points, 67-62, with five minutes remaining. Center Yiannis Bourousis leveled, 78-78, with 14.9 seconds left on the clock. Panathinaikos playmaker Sarunas Jasikevicius, fouled with 12 seconds to go, was on target with both his free throws to put Panathinaikos ahead 80-78. With 5.7 seconds left, Lynn Greer netted one of two free throws for an 80-79 deficit, which his team failed to overcome in the last few seconds of play.

Olympiakos knocks out Real Madrid for quarterfinal spot March 21, 2008

Euroleague defending champion Panathinaikos eliminated

With defending champion Panathinaikos and Aris eliminated from the Euroleague a day earlier, Olympiakos became the country’s sole team to reach the premier European club-level basketball competition’s quarterfinals following a 72-63 victory against visiting Real Madrid last night.

The Spanish team was eliminated, ending third in the Round of 16’s Group F. Olympiakos, which captured the group’s second spot with a 4-2 record, will meet Group G winner CSKA Moscow, a favorite for the title, in a best-of-three quarterfinal series. Holding the home-ground advantage, the Russian club will play the first and third game – should it be needed – at home.

Panathinaikos coach Zelimir Obradovic, in an initial assessment of his team’s failure to reach the Euroleague quarterfinals, said his players did not show the experience that was necessary. The Athenian basketball club was deprived of the chance of defending its European title after being beaten 82-73 by Partizan in Belgrade.

The defeat left Panathinaikos a disappointing third in the Round of 16’s Group D with a 3-3 record. Siena and Partizan advanced from the group to the quarterfinals with 4-2 records. Obradovic blamed the defeat on a lack of cool heads in his big-budget team as well as a lack of tall men to win rebounds and force the play inside the key. Partizan won 37 rebounds compared to Panathinaikos’s 18.

“We lost the game on offence because we missed three times in crucial moments,” said Obradovic. “Panathinaikos has experienced players and I expected smarter, more patient play from them,” he continued, adding that the team had a huge problem in the power-forward position.

Playing in Group E, Thessaloniki team Aris ended its campaign with a morale-boosting 83-74 home win over Lietuvos Rytas. Both teams were eliminated with 2-4 records, with Tau Ceramica and Fenerbahce gaining quarterfinal places from this group.

Panathinaikos to shoot for top basketball spot March 13, 2008

Reigning European basketball champion Panathinaikos will look to capture the top spot in the Round of 16’s Group D tonight when the Athens basketball club hosts group front-runner Siena. The Italian club leads with a 3-1 record with two rounds remaining. Panathinaikos and Partizan share second place with 2-2 records.

“There’s not much to say before a game that looks like a final for Panathinaikos,” said coach Zelimir Obradovic. “Siena is a really good team that we know very well. Without a doubt, our objective is to win the game and cover the nine-point losing margin of the first round.”

Also tonight, Olympiakos, on 2-2 in Group F, a win behind leader Real Madrid, is hosted by last-placed Zalgiris, on a 1-3 record.