By Dionysis Aravantinos / info@eurohoops.net
Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens did it’s part and defeated Valencia Basket in Athens and still hope for the home court advantage. After the game, Eurohoops caught up with Panathinaikos‘ American forward Kenny Gabriel.
Thanks to Luka Doncic’s game-winner, Real Madrid defeated Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade and holds the top-4 position in their own hands. According to Kenny Gabriel, it doesn’t matter who PAO plays in the playoffs: “It doesn’t matter. Basketball is basketball and in the playoffs, you have to give it your best shot. No matter how many games you play, whether it’s three, four, or five games. Each team is going to bring their best, so whoever we match up with, we will know that they will want to get to the final four.”
Defense is the key to the final four: “We just got to keep playing defense, and keep believing in each other. We also got to work on our free-throws. Tonight we only shot 52% from the free-throw line, so we got to get better with that.”
About the regular season, Gabriel said the following: “That’s the thing about life, you can’t change anything. You just hope to keep going, growing and trying to get better every day. The regular season has had its ups and downs, a lot of games that we should have won, and a lot of games that were decided in the fourth quarter.”
Mike James and Adreian Payne are slowly adapting to coach Xavi Pascual’s system: “Mike was here last year, so he knows the system. For Adreian, this is his first year in Europe. He stepped up really big for us on Friday (30/03) and I think he is getting used to the style of play here which is very different to the NBA. He is a competitor, he loves to play the game. Having him too it’s going to help us out a lot.”
Finally, Kenny Gabriel talked about Nick Calathes: “In my opinion yes, he is the MVP. I’ve been saying it all year, that he is the best point guard in Europe, he makes this team go. He is a great guy, great all-around player.”
For more EuroLeague news, click here!