Week number 7 for the Greek Basket League. Panathinaikos and Olympiacos remain undefeated,while many interesting matches took place this weekend, all reviewed below.

KAOD-Kolossos Rhodes 76-79

KAOD started the game well, the same time that Kolossos struggled to remain close to them.The team from Drama made everything right.They shooted well, dominated the rebounds and generally had a decent first half, they even managed to get a +5 (39-34) by the pass of 20 minutes play.

The good KAOD game continued during the 3rd quarter, giving Kolossos little chance to grab the win.The end of the third, found the away side trailing 55-50.From then on, the Rhodians took the game under their control.They focused on offense and finally got the lead, 70-74.Another Simpson made shot behind the arc gave Kolossos the lead they needed (77-72), to walk away with the win.Stefanidis was the MVP for the away side, while Brown scored 20 for Kolossos.

A.O. Trikala-PAOK 87-76

A little surprise occurred at Trikala, where the local team took advantage of PAOK’s fatigue and beat them 87-76. Trikala took control of the match early on, since coach Flevarakis asked his team to press defensively and play high-paced basketball. The first quarter came to an end with Trikala in front 18-11.PAOK never reovered and Trikala could do anything they wanted inside the paint, they grabbed almost all the rebounds and got to the dressing room leading by 13, 45-32.

Nothing changed at the beginning of the second half, since PAOK had totally given up, mostly because of the fatigue.Trikala defended well and secured a win, that came way easier than they expected.Patrick Eweing JR crowned as MVP, scoring 22 and grabbing 12 rebounds. PAOK had Margaritis in a good shape, scoring 17p.

Panionios- Ilissiakos 69-64

Ilissiakos had a great game, played physical defense, but Panionios took the win, mostly because of the experienced players they had to their roster.Ilissiakos caught Panionios off guard and took the lead by the end of 1st quarter 23-18. Panionios remained numb and the game difference didn’t change at all, 32-37 was the score that led the teams to the locker rooms.

The second half started well for Ilissiakos but Panionios did not lose control and managed to remain close to the away side.As a result, Ilissiakos was in front at 30th minute, 52-56, but the last quarter was disastrous for them. Panionios only allowed only 3 points until the 39th minute and had no problem to grab the win from Ilissiakos, who had no response to Panionios’ comeback.MacCollum was outstanding again for Panionios, scored 29 at led his team to the win.Coach Sfairopoulos gave time to all the players who have a bad season thus far, trying to motivate them and get them fit for the rest of the season.Kafkis had 13 with 6 assists for the defeated side.

A.E.Nea Kifissia- Ikaros Chakidas 75-66

AENK recorded their second win this season, first one at their home, having Crocker, Barlos and Liakopoulos in great form.The most important quarter of the game was the first since the home side started very well, had great offensive flow and managed to take a 14-point lead (28-14) at the end of it.Crocker and defense gave Kifissia a good lead by the end of the half, 44-32.

Kifissia defended strong and maintaned their lead very easily, since they did not let Ikaros to reduce the gap to less than 7 points.Finally the game came to a close 75-66 and AENK celebrated their big win, giving them a great boost for the games to come.Crocker scored 18 for the winners, Asca had another great game for Ikaros, soring 20 with 9/14 field goals.

Panelefsiniakos- A.G.O. Rethymno 72-87

AGOR took an important win, this time against Panelefsiniakos, a pretty competitive team.The away side started strong, taking advantage of their opponent’s weak defense and taking a 15-26 lead by the end of the 1st quarter.The second half was even better for AGOR, who kept playing decent offense, having Justin Hart in a great day. The half came to a close with the Cretans leading by 23, 26-49.

Panelefsiniakos tried to make a comeback, having better choices at the offense, but they didn’t pay any attention to their defense once again, and that gave AGOR the chane to secure the win by the end of the third, 51-69.The 4th quarter had no surprises, the away team hung on to their lead and by the buzzer, they celebrated an important win away from their homeourt.Hart scored 24, and was the best player on the court, while Faye had a pretty notable performance with 26 points and 11 rebounds.

Aris- Panathinaikos 59-75

Panathinaikos emerged as winners to one of the classic and most historical match-ups of the League, against Aris.The big clashes between the two teams may belong to the past, but Aris did their best to stay close to their opponent and try for the best.Panathinaikos was better during the 1st quarter and managed to take the upper hand to the game, 15-22 by the passage of 10 minutes play.Aris did not gave up and tried to reduce the gap, something they partially managed, but the most important thing was that they improved their offensive consistancy.34-41 was the socre after 20 minutes of basketball.

Aris had good momentum and at the 23rd minute reduced the gap to 2 points, 41-43, but a 5-0 run by Fotsis, put Panathinaikos in a good position again.The quarter came to a close with the “Greens” leading 52-59.Coach Aggelou’s youth team did not stand the pressure during the 4th quarter, Panathinaikos had more energy and of course bigger bench depth, helping them finally win the game.Diamantidis scored 13 for the winners, Sarikopoulos had 11 with 4/4 attempts inside the arc and 6 rebounds.

Olympiacos-Apollon Patras 93-71

Olympiacos remains undefeated this season, but had a -2 points start because of a penalty that occured during last year’s Finals, so they are second in the League table.This was the last game Olympiacos plays without his fans at S.E.F, but this was not an obstacle for the European Champions, who started well but Apollon balanced the game and the quarter came to an end 16-15.The home side played well during the 1st half but Apollon stayed close to their opponents mostly because of his good Americans.However Bartzokas’ team closed the half strong leading 44-38.

The second part of the game, totally belonged to Olympiacos who tightened up their defence and didn’t allow Apollon to score easy points.The third quarter gave Olympiacos the boost they needed to dominate against the inexperienced away team.The quarter came to a close with the “Reds” leading 68-53.From then on the match had no big interest since the team trailing, gave up and did not try for a miracle, giving their opponents a relatively easy win. Olympiacos recorded 67% behind the arc (10/15) having Lojesky in another great night scoring 16 points with 2/2 three-point shots and 8 rebounds.Daniel had 21points with 12 rebounds for Apollon.

After 7 weeks of interesting basketball, we get a good idea of what the team are doing thus far and what their targets are.The standings are below with Panathinaikos remaining atop of the Greek League

#TeamMPWDLSFSADPLast 5 matches
1Panathinaikos7601553419+13413WWWWW
2Olympiakos Piraeus7700600444+15612WWWWW
3PAOK Saloniki7502553531+2212LWLWW
4Panionios7502469466+312WLWWL
5A.G.O Rethymno7403545558-1311WLLWL
6Aris BC7304485502-1710LWLLW
7Apollon Patras7304523525-210LLWLW
8KAO Dramas7304526547-2110LLWLW
9Panelefsiniakos AOK7304505517-1210LLWWW
10AO Aiolos Trikallon7205512512+09WLWLL
11AE NEA Kifisia7205462515-539WLLLL
12Ilysiakos Athens7205457500-439LWLWL
13Kolossos7205498579-819WWLLL
14Ikaros Halkidas7205504577-739LWLLL