The Greens could be even better in 2024-25 than they were in 2023-24
Panathinaikos showed its impressive depth in Berlin
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3 Mins read
Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens had a happy return to Uber Arena, where it won its seventh continental crown last May. On Thursday night, the Greens downed ALBA Berlin 77-87 in Round 1 and showed they have the potential to be even better this season.
Panathinaikos had five players score in double digits, with all of them being with the team last season. Kendrick Nunn led the way with 16 points. Mathias Lessort added 14 and 8 rebounds, Juancho Hernangomez had 11 points in his favorite city (he became a EuroBasket champion with Spain and a Turkish Airlines EuroLeague winner with the Greens at Uber Arena) while Kostas Sloukas and Jerian Grant each netted 10. Sloukas had 8 of those in the final five minutes to make sure he stopped ALBA's fourth-quarter comeback.
After the game, Nunn gave us one of the keys that could make the Greens better: the team is deeper, and that should pay off in the long run.
"It felt good, especially opening up here in Berlin. It felt really nice to be back in this arena. Most importantly we got the victory, so I'm happy," Nunn told the EuroLeague TV cameras. "It adds depth to our team. Like you were seeing today, we almost did a five in, five out type of sub, and we have the depth to keep guys fresh. That will help us throughout the season."
Indeed, the newcomers all delivered and showed they can be major contributors in the long run. Cedi Osman had 5 points, a steal and a block, being very active at both ends. Lorenzo Brown finished the game with 5 points and 5 assists. Omer Yurtseven had 8 points on 4-of-4 shots, 3 rebounds and a PIR of 10 in just over 14 minutes.
Lessort believes that the fact that Panathinaikos is the reigning EuroLeague champion does not change things at all, as the Greens will have to go out there and fight for every victory.
"It is a whole new season. We don't start this season with any advantage from last season. We are starting from zero and have to prove ourselves again," Lessort said. "We have a lot of new players and never two seasons look the same. We cannot count on last season to carry on to this one. This is our season and we have everything to prove this year."
It is early in the season but head coach Ergin Ataman knows that its improved depth can be decisive in Panathinaikos's challenge to win a second consecutive EuroLeague title for the first time in club history.
"We have a good depth in our roster. We need to find a better focus on defense, because offensively, we have great potential. But sometimes on defense, the players on the court try to rest and this is not good because we need to find more fast-break points to break the game," Coach Ataman said. "OK, we can learn about this. We will work, it is the beginning of the season, so I have a lot of confidence for these guys."
Next week, Panathinaikos returns to OAKA to play its first EuroLeague game since the 2023 playoffs, on October 10 against FC Bayern Munich.