Panathinaikos AKTOR welcome Maccabi in the most important match of the past twelve years, and Vasilis Skoundis looks back on the hellish streak of 2012, with Mike Bautista officiating.
All together the panathinayakas fell for the actor, not even for a reason, the devil, he did them! As Steve Yatzoglow once said, it’s a coincidence of coincidences!
Where to pick up these odds and ends and where to leave them ahead of tonight’s Game 5 with Maccabi (21:15, NovaSports Prime And Live from SPORT24)It remains to be seen if the good omens will be confirmed, except that I might miss a few already…
12 years of ghosts
So we say…
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Europe’s Celtics and Lakers play a hellish Game 5 again on April 5, 2012 at OAKA, where the Greens won 86-85 to advance to the Final Four in Istanbul.
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In the last twelve years, Panathinaikos have been unable to return to the elite and now is the right time to exorcise the demons that have haunted them ever since.
Diamantitz’s Gordian Knot
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The current series of playoffs is growing like 2012, in which the Greens again had home advantage and were marked by two breaks: 1-0 (93-73), 1-1 (92-94 in overtime with a three-pointer by Keith Langford and a shot by David Blue). 1-2 (62-65) 2-2 (78-69 with a break in Tel Aviv) and 3-2 (score 86-85) in the fifth game was broken with the Gordian tie – not just getting rid of it – free throw from the hands of Dimitris Diamantidis and the last Stolen in five seconds!
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Then Diamantidis “wrote” 25 points (2/3d., 2.6tr., 15/18b.), six rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block and left his indelible mark as an ambassador, natural creator and hero. Qualifiers, followed by yesterday’s 44 with one day play tonightA His birthday!
Birthday and fourth star
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Yesterday (6/5) in 2007, on Diamantidis’ birthday, OAKA sewed up CSKA Moscow 93-91 on the canvas in one of the most shocking and exciting finals in Champions Cup history. The fourth of the six stars on his plumed uniform.
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Like tomorrow, on May 8, 2011, the Greens crowned themselves for the sixth time in the Final Four in Barcelona, not just any opponent, but the one standing before them tonight: Maccabi Te!
Kramer vs. Kramer
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Not just anyone on the Israeli team’s bench, but Odette Katas is in a role.Kramer vs. Kramer» In 2000, Panathinaikos won its second title against any opponent in Pylaia, but Maccabi’s hometown club, but in 1999 it took off its jersey and wore green, finally becoming the King of the Jews. People of Athens!
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Twenty years after his illustrious tenure at Panathinaikos and a glorious end, the ever-unsmiling, unexpressive and seemingly… impassive Katas returned to Panathinaikos (January 2021) to succeed Giorgos Vovoras as coach after losing to Lavrio, but he did not last long. Five months later (June 2021) Dimitris handed over the baton to Priftis.
Adjustment zones and Greek
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Influenced by David Platt, Katas often uses defense, which was the focus of the former Ares and Olympiakos coach’s strategy: the match-up zone that (Katas) used frequently during his short tenure at Panathinaikos.
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The so-called bench of six-time champions Israel has Spanish Josep Perogal, Tusko Ivanovic’s partner on the green bench for the 2014-15 season.
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Maccabi’s roster includes Wade Baldwin, David Blatt’s son Tamir Blatt, Isaac Cohen (Aris, 2015-16) and James Webb (Larissa, 2020-21), who wore an Olympiakos jersey in the 2019-20 season.
double deficiency syndrome, Papaleukas and Skorzenidis
- Both teams have six European Champions Cup trophies under their belts, although they have suffered from a deficit syndrome in recent years.
- In the epic series of 2012, Maccabi had their bench flat, while their roster was adorned by two Greek players: Theodoris Papaloukas and Sophocles Shortzanidis, who enjoyed the nectar of the EuroLeague title in 2014. Three other players in Greece have also worn the Israeli jersey: Devin Smith (Panhellenic, 2009-10), Sean James (Olympiakos, 2015-16) and Keith Langford (Panathinaikos 2018-19, AEK 2019-2021).
- The OAKA stands were a hive of activity in the exciting fifth match of 2012, but apparently today the stadium is more smoky than ever!
The fly ate iron and steel mosquito
On the night of April 5, 2012, when both teams claimed disqualification, the fly actually ate the iron, and the fly actually ate the iron and the mosquito actually ate the steel!
With seven seconds left in the thriller, Guy Pnini, now Katta’s assistant coach, hit two shots to tie the game at 85-85.
At 5”, Richard Hendricks fouled Dimitris Diamantidis, who made the first shot to make it 86-85 and missed the second.
From the Machine… Mitsos
Tal Burstein got a defensive rebound, but then Diamantitis stepped in like a mechanical god and stole the ball from him, sealing the win for the Greens and advancing to the Final Four with their iron and iron.
The composition of the two teams in this dramatic match:
Panathinaikos: Berperoglou 9, Maritz 5, Batiste 8-5-1-1, Logan 4, Sato 1, Sartsaris 2, Diamantidis 25-6-3-2-1, Vaukiukas 8, Kaladis 4, Smith 2, Kymakoglou 5, Jasikevics – 3-3
MACABI: Papaloukas, Hendricks 8, Smith 9, Blue 14, Eligio 4, Mallett, Binini 9, Boorstein 10, Ohio 10, James 2, Shkortzanidis 8, Langford 11-2-5-1
Dao, fight and Bautista’s Xalafroma
The series is indelibly etched in the collective memory, especially in the minds and hearts of its protagonists, some of whom let their emotions escape them after the fifth race…
For whom does the bell toll?
But mainly to Mike Bautista, who impersonated right after the final horn… Theodoris Papaloukas, who had this habit, kicked the ball into the platform!
«I felt like lighting upHe told me yesterday when I asked him to recall the memories of that day.
«We had won three trophies, but the 2012 series with Maccabi was different from the previous series and reminded us of the 2006 series with Dow, who beat us so effectively. Maccabi did the same and embarrassed us…” He explains that he is the longest serving and most loyal foreign player in the history of Greek basketball.
A rematch of the 2011 final
On their way to the throne in 2007, Panathinaikos beat Dynamo Moscow 2-0, Montepaschi beat Siena 3-1 in 2009, and Barcelona in 2011 in four matches.
«Even the three times Siena beat us at OAKA, we felt outclassed and dare I say we were very confident of qualifying, but even though we lost 20 points to them in the first game, things got tough with Maccabi. And we understood that the Israelis wanted revenge for our defeat in the final Final FourThe previous year in Barcelona» Bautista continues.
A suicide trip to Tel Aviv
«We understood that this team was dangerous because of their style and when we lost home advantage and went 2-1 down, we went on a suicide mission in Tel Aviv, where we won and brought the series back to Athens and brought qualification home. Inside crowded OAKA».
Looking back at the fifth and decisive game, the current assistant coach of the Toronto Raptors (who closely followed the first two games of the series at OAKA) insists:
«Even when we were leading by double digits in the fifth game, twelve points if I remember correctly, Maccabi didn’t give up, they really pushed us to our limit. They tried to steal the win in the last seconds but luckily we held on».
Load, recovery and kicking the ball
Bautista will never forget that night, explaining why: “It was one of the most intense and unforgettable matches I have played in my life because we faced Maccabi five times in two weeks and the other side had an important and important role to play in qualifying. Final Four And the opportunity to defend our title. We all felt like we were carrying a huge load and luckily we were able to shake off even though we tried hard. I hope the same will happen now».
After the match, the American center turned from a basketball player to a football player!
«I gasped – and I wasn’t the only one – from the pressure, seeing the ball in front of me and kicking it into the stands. In that moment I wanted to throw away all that tension, release my emotions, and feel joy, relief, and redemption.».
Desires, sufferings and “i don or epi toss”
Since then, 12 years have already passed, and for the Greens they turned to stone, and tonight they want to open the door that leads to the Final Four and relive their embalmed desires and sorrows!
The two teams face each other in tonight’s final, which both “with or upon it“, as Spartan mothers sternly commanded their young shoots to flee to battle!
Panathinaikos and Maccabi compete for 54 runsThe In history “Sarov” bid for victory with a score of 28-25 and semi-finals in 2011 in Barcelona (78-70), in 2002 in Bologna (83-75) and in 2005 in Moscow (82-91) and in a shocking 2012 playoff series (score 3-2). done Game five, back at Oga!
Woe to the vanquished!
There is a lot of money tonight, because it goes from Marucci to Berlin, and as the Americans say on such occasions, “DHe success will take It is All».
A saying of Brennes, the leader of the Gauls, always applies to the Romans who argued about the exact weight of gold to be paid as tribute for those who fell on the battlefield. ..
He threw his sword and belt on the scale and shouted.ftDefeated», meaning woe to the vanquished!