Greek Basket League round-up (week 10)

Another exciting week in the Greek League, seven games took place and all reviewed below:

PAOK – Panionios 91-100

Panionios is in great condition, and after a dramatic game, they emerged as victorious in this crucial matchup. The away side started very well, and by the end of the 1^st quarter they were leading 13-26. PAOK was clearly tired and not able to follow Panionios’ quick pace, so the half came to an end 36-48.

Not many could predict what was about to happen during the 4^th quarter since after 30 minutes of play the score was 58-69. The home team tried to turn the game around, and almost achieved it, since at 34^th minute Charalambidis gave “Dikefalos” the lead 75-74. From then on an amazing game took place because after two consecutive 3-pointers from McCollum, PAOK tried to follow again, forcing a very quick game with both teams focusing on offense. Panionios was concentrated, patient and was hitting almost every shot attempted, cleared the game, scored 100 points for first time this season, and has a clear advantage in occupying the 3^rd place in Basket League. McCollum was MVP with 26 points, while Cooper had 22 for the defeated side.

Apollon Patras – K.A.O. Dramas 62-64

Apollon Patras appeared to be strong defensively at the beginning and managed to close the 1^st quarter leading 12-11, despite their opponent’s big attempt to stay close. Apollon also improved his offense and with Daniel leading the way, the first half ended 31-23

Not many things changed after the break, with the visitors being weak inside the paint allowing some easy points for their opponents. After the passage of 30 minutes KAOD was trailing 52-40. At this point, Apollon seemed to be relaxed upon their lead and did not try to maintain it. As a result, the team from Drama did not give up, had a 15-4 run, took advantage of Apollon’s many missed shot and finally grabbed a huge win. Jones had 15 for the winning team, while Daniel had 17p.

Olympiacos – A.O. Trikala 84-45

As the final score indicates, Trikala was no match for the “Reds”. Coach Bartzokas found the chance to rest Spanoulis and use players that don’t usually take much playing time. The first quarter was the only relatively competitive, but the score after 10’ was 25-7. The rest of the half was very difficult for Trikala, since they had already given up. The score at halftime was 41-15.

Nothing changed during the second half, Olympiacos did not give their opponents any hope, and the result was 61-27 after 30 minutes. The 4^th quarter was only typical, and led to the final score which indicates that the European Champions are one level beyond every other team in the League. Man of the match was Printezis who scored 22 points.

Ikaros Chalkidas- Ilissiakos 72-71

A dramatic match took place in Chalkida, where the local team played better and finally won Ilissiakos. From the first minute, the home side took control of the game and closed the first quarter leading 23-15. Ikaros remained concentrated in both sides of the court and after 20 minutes of play, the score was 46-34.

Ilissiakos tried to improve their defense, but Ikaros could still find the way to the basket, managing to keep their opponents in a safe distance (63-49) at the end of the 3^rd quarter. However Ilissiakos was not going to give up, pressed full-court, tightened their defense and achieved to get the game to the final shot. Smith missed twice giving the home team a very important win. Richards scored 16 for Ikaros, while Kafkis had 17 for Ilissiakos.

A.G.O. Rethymno – A.E.N. Kifissia 54-55

In a very close game, AENK proved to be luckier, more concentrated and grabbed a very difficult win on the road. The away side defended very well from the first quarter allowing only 10 points (10-16). The rest of the half was better and more interesting with the teams exchanging points. Kifissia had an 11-3 run and closed the half leading 26-30.

The away side had more energy at the beginning of the 3^rd quarter, took a 9 point lead (33-42) but from then on AGOR bounced back and after 30 minutes of basketball the score was 42-44. Two free throws scored by Tsaldaris and two missed 3-pointers from AGOR players, gave Kifissia a very difficult and important win. Crocker scored 9 and grabbed 6 rebounds for the winners, while Gabriel scored 10points and had 10 rebounds for the home side.

Panelefsiniakos – Aris 72-60

Aris missed way too many shots in the game against Panelefsiniakos and as a result the home side got a very important win. Panelefsiniakos had the upper hand from the first minute, forcing Aris to make bad offensive choices. The first quarter came to an end 19-13. The home side kept defending very well and having a decent offensive flow, but Aris did their best and managed to hold on to the game. The score of the halftime was 37-31.

After the break, the away side stepped on the court determined to win the game, cut the lead to 2 points at the 24^th minute, but Panelefsiniakos did not lose control and after 3 quarters they were leading 57-43. From then on Aris had no more energy to attempt another comeback and the final score indicates which team was overally better. Ross scored 17 for the winners while Pelekanos had 23 for the team from Thessaloniki.

Kolossos Rhodes – Panathinaikos 58-73

Panathinaikos did not play the way he did in Russia but he did not face any major difficulty against Kolossos Rhodes. The home team tried to defend physically but wasted too much energy on that. As a result they commited many mistakes and the first 10 minutes came to a close 14-20. Panathinaikos was weak inside the paint, allowing many second chance points and their opponents had the chance to stay close to them. The half time score was 34-38

As the Greek Champions usually do, they started the second half very well catching Kolossos off-guard, had a 15-0 run and created a relatively comfortable lead 43-58 at the end of the 3^rd. The home team tried to react, cut the lead to 8 points (58-50) but Panathinaikos found the solution again and finally got the win that maintened them to the top of the League.