By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Zenit Saint-Petersburg defense got the job done once more paving the way for the win, 89-77, over Panathinaikos OPAP Thursday evening at Athens.
The Russian outlet improving to 8-2 on the road this season enjoyed a career-high performance by Arturas Gudaitis. He went for 25 points behind 10/13 twos outdoing his 20 points facing the same opponent as a member of AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milano back in December 2018. The Lithuanian center needs four more points to reach the 1,000-point mark in EuroLeague.
Kevin Pangos added 18 points featuring 7/7 two-pointers and dished out ten assists in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 18 encounter. Alex Poythress and Dmitry Khvostov were sidelined.
“We’ve got a great group of guys here and it makes my job easy,” pointed out Pangos after the match, “I try to get them the ball in their sweet spots and they do the rest. It’s just a great group to play with and I’m enjoying it.”
The first game after the departure of Georgios Vovoras and under the guidance of interim head coach Kostas Charalampidis was disappointing for the hosts. The offensive struggles were apparent, but a 23-13 fourth quarter made out a friendlier outcome. Ioannis Papapetrou threw in a team-high 14 points.
“They are the best defensive team in the league and they proved that,” mentioned Charalampidis, “We had a lot of difficulties to run the flow of our offense and also defensively, we didn’t read the game well and we let them score some baskets that we should have prevented.”
“Our fans are waiting to see a reaction from us and unfortunately they did not see it,” admitted Leonidas Kaselakis after his nine-point effort, “As long as we have mathematical hopes we must fight. Our image is unacceptable, despite the promises we made to each other. The EuroLeague does not forgive mistakes. We have to work hard.”
Former Greens boss, Xavi Pascual guided his side up to 11-5. Third consecutive victory in Europe’s premier club competition and fifth in a row overall including VTB United League results. The Greek club dropped to 5-12.
“The final result is important, but also I like very much the way that we played, how we played defense, how we played offense,” said the Zenit head coach, “Unfortunately in the last quarter, especially in three-pointers, we didn’t score some open shots that could have finished the game before, but okay, this is what it is.”
His team will host Avtodor Saratov Sunday and switch back to EuroLeague for an away game versus FC Bayern Munich Wednesday and a home tilt against Zalgiris Kaunas Friday.
A domestic affair with AEK is next up for the losing side, LDLC ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne will visit OAKA Wednesday and Fenerbahce Beko on the road will follow Friday.
Panathinaikos off three straight EuroLeague losses and merely 3-6 at home is awaiting the arrival of Oded Kattash expected to take over head coaching responsibilities.