The former EuroLeague winner faces a mammoth task to eliminate the Greek giant
Efes braced for titanic battle with champs Panathinaikos
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3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 34 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Anadolu Efes Istanbul stormed into the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs with eight successive wins in the home straight of the regular season, but it now faces a massive challenge to knock out reigning champs Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens.
The best-of-five blockbuster will be spiced up by Panathinaikos head coach Ergin Ataman locking horns with his former club, having guiding Efes to successive titles in 2021 and 2022 before he lifted the trophy with the Greek franchise last year.
It will be Ataman’s first postseason clash with Efes, which missed out on the business end of Europe’s premier club competition the last two years in a row and looked like being confined to the sidelines again before its magnificent late run.
The rivals shared the spoils in the regular season as Efes prevailed 93-67 on its home court before Panathinaikos returned the favor with a 104-89 win in Athens, which was the Turkish outfit’s last defeat before going on an eight-game winning streak.
Home-court advantage could be crucial and Panathinaikos, which finished third in the regular season with a 22-12 record, has it in its favor against sixth-placed Efes (20-14), which secured a playoff berth with an 87-77 win over Zalgiris Kaunas.
Head coach Luca Banchi, who took over midway through the season, acknowledged that the matchup with Panathinaikos will be an entirely different prospect after seeing Efes muscle its way across the finish line on the final day of the regular season.
He also revealed that Efes was under immense pressure against Zalgiris, having spilled a 19-point lead before coming out on top with a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter on the back of steely defense.
“After winning seven games in a row and coming within one game of reaching the playoffs, there was a lot of anxiety. But the team responded in a great way,” Banchi told the postgame press conference.
“In the third quarter we had moments when we struggled to contain their offense, but the last five minutes of the game embodied the will and desire of this group to succeed. What we did defensively has become the team’s trademark and Efes is back in the playoffs after a two-year absence,” he added.
Banchi endured a torrid 2-5 start when he arrived in January before a whirlwind streak saw Efes overcome one hurdle after another, courtesy of effervescent team work with an array of players stepping up to the plate when the chips were down.
The victorious streak instilled a new level of belief that Efes can rekindle recent glory and lift the trophy for the third time in five years, although it faces a formidable task against a resourceful and talent-packed rival.
“Moving forward we need to stay confident as the playoffs will reset everything, and we will head into the quarterfinal series with the DNA of a team that never gives up and keeps fighting until the last second of the last game,” said Banchi.
Having heaped praise on his staff, Banchi also hailed the presence of club president Tuncay Ozilhan whose commitment to the cause inspired the team to defy the odds, as they climbed from 13th place to sixth in 43 days on the back of a relentless effort.
“The players did a great job in the final part of the season but I believe that our president initiated their surge because at our lowest ebb when we were collecting defeats, he was the first to support the team as he travelled with us to road games,” Banchi stressed. “For me, that was a great lesson as you have to keep learning from the best.”
Efes is likely to rely on a balanced roster with a stack of players capable of carrying the mantle while Panathinaikos will hope that the league’s top scorer Kendrick Nunn, who is averaging 21.5 points per game, stays in top gear throughout the series.
The backcourt of Nunn, Jerian Grant and Kostas Sloukas face the toughest job imaginable against the Efes trio of Shane Larkin, Darius Thompson and Elijah Bryant, who were ruthlessly efficient at both ends of the court in the final push to reach the playoffs.
The heavyweight clash will be a basketball feast for the fans, with a Final Four spot at stake in arguably the standout series of this season’s playoffs.
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