The EuroLeague titleholder displayed grit and mettle when the chips were down to prevail in a fervent atmosphere
Panathinaikos showed the makings of a champion in subduing Fenerbahce
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Regular Season
Round 5 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens was staring at a third successive defeat in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague but the Greens showed what champions are made of, saving their best for last in a rollercoaster 76-81 road win over Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul.
Having slipped up at the competition’s debutants, Paris Basketball, before losing at Real Madrid in a rematch of last season’s championship game, Panathinaikos threw away a 13-point lead against Fenerbahce and trailed 70-65 midway through the fourth quarter.
Not surprisingly, it was captain Kostas Sloukas who got the visitors out of jail with a masterclass fourth-quarter performance, sinking 8 of his 13 points – including a clutch triple – in the final frame to give Panathinaikos the lead for good, 73-75.
Having acknowledged that he needed to bounce back after a pair of substandard performances at Paris and Real, Sloukas – playing in his 392nd EuroLeague game, the fourth most all-time – heaped praise on his head coach Ergin Ataman, who masterfully guided Panathinaikos to last season’s title in Europe’s premier club competition.
“This is a big win because it’s a difficult arena and Fener are a great team,” Sloukas said to EuroLeague TV in a post-game interview. “We had a good shot selection in the end, while I had to react because I had played two bad games in a row. It was important to stay calm in crucial moments after Fener reacted when we led by 12 points. I have a very good cooperation with Ataman, he is always hungry and right now he is the best coach in Europe.”
The 58-year-old Turkish tactician, who won back-to-back titles with Fenerbahce’s archrival Anadolu Efes Istanbul before he lifted the coveted trophy in his first season at Panathinaikos, kept his emotions at bay after what must have been another heart-warming victory over a perennial rival.
He acknowledged that Panathinaikos suffered a second-half meltdown which allowed Fenerbahce to turn a 47-60 deficit into a 70-65 lead but also heaped praise on his men, notably Sloukas, after seeing his team have the last laugh.
“For three quarters we played a perfect game,” said Ataman. “We moved the ball well and played excellent defense. In the last quarter, we panicked on offense and committed a series of turnovers against an aggressive Fenerbahce defense.
“But the team showed great character in the last five minutes, especially Sloukas. Just like last year, he took the leadership in crunch time and we found a way to grind out a very important victory. It’s very difficult to win on this court as Fenerbahce is a great team.”
Big man Omer Yurtseven added: “The comeback that they had was insane, we had some flaws on defense which they cracked but we hit some big shots. We learned a lot from this game and it was a great team effort.”
It was another disappointing night on home court for Fenerbahce head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius, who saw his outfit mauled by Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade 57-76 in Istanbul before a labored 71-78 win at the competition’s bottom team, ALBA Berlin.
“Playing well for one and a half or two quarters is not enough against the EuroLeague champion,” said the visibly anguished Lithuanian tactician. “We didn’t compete in the first half and then we showed some character and found a little bit of basketball, but we made silly mistakes in the end and it cost us the game.”