Panathinaikos 2008-09 Euroleague Season Review
Panathinaikos Gets Back To Final Four After 2008 Slip-Up
Apr 5, 2009
Panathinaikos struggled to watch the 2008 Euroleague Final Four, knowing that it would not get the chance to defend its 2007 title. But the Greens are back in Final Four and look to capture the fifth crown in club history.
Big Names In 2007-08 Didn't Bring Title Defense
Last season Panathinaikos had brought in big-name acquisitions Vassilis Spanoulis and Sarunas Jasikevicious in the off-season after winning the 2007 championship. Zeljko Obradovic's men could not however win on the road in the Top 16 and were eliminated - banished to watching the Final Four on television.
Fotsis, Pekovic Top Additions
Obradovic went back to the drawing board and re-loaded his team, which has won the last six Greek domestic league titles and 10 of the last 11 crowns. Panathinaikos management lost only role players Sani Becirovic and Dejan Tomasevic while retaining the core of long-time Greens Mike Batiste (since 2004) and Dimitris Diamantidis (since 2005) and second-year guards Spanoulis and Jasikevicius. And Obradovic's new weapons would be Antonis Fotsis, Nikola Pekovic and Drew Nicholas.
Two Losses To Barcelona, Advance To Top 16
In the Regular Season, Panathinaikos dropped both games against Regal FC Barcelona (including a 24-point drubbing in Spain and an 11-point loss at home) and finished the Group B with a 7-3 record with a 5-point loss at Montepaschi Siena as the other setback. But that was enough to reach the Top 16.
Emergence Of Pekovic
In the final four games of the Regular Season, Nikola Pekovic totaled just 17 points in three games played after hitting in double figures in the first six contests. But his first game of the Top 16 was the best of the season for the 23-year-old, who was taking a big step of going from superstar with Partizan to just a good player on a great, deep squad like Panathinaikos. But Pekovic was proving he belonged with the best in Europe. In Week 1 of the Top 16, he collected 26 points and 6 rebounds against his former team Partizan. Then in the Quarterfinal Playoffs against Montepaschi Siena, Pekovic averaged 14.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in less than 17 minutes.
Arsenal Of Weapons Bring First Place In Top 16
Pekovic obviously wasn't the only weapon for Obradovic. And the coach used all of them in the Top 16 as Panathinaikos dropped just one game (at Partizan) in finishing atop Group G with a 5-1 record for home court advantage in the Quarterfinal Playoffs against Montepaschi.
Panathinaikos Oust Montepaschi Siena In Quarters
In the quarters, Panathinaikos grabbed the first game at home but then lost Game 2 at home. Obradovic did not accept his team's failure and the Greens went to Italy re-focused and regained home court advantage by holding Siena to under 30% shooting and winning the rebounding battle 46-27.
Depth Key In Search
And the decisive Game 4 showed exactly why Panathinaikos is so tough to beat as six different players scored in double digits to send the Greens to Berlin looking to add another trophy to the ones from 1996, 2000, 2002 and 2007.
